Using art, letters, stories, and poetry, tell us: 

How might the roots of your joy sustain your wellbeing?

Our wellbeing is not only shaped by what we endure, but by what supports us and keeps us going.

In a world marked by constant movement and change, how we ground ourselves in joy influences our way forward. Joy is a root system. It anchors us during times of change, holds us through moments of exhaustion or grief, and quietly supports our capacity to care for ourselves, our communities, and one another. Joy is not incidental to wellbeing; it is foundational.

We understand wellbeing as both deeply personal and deeply collective. It lives in our bodies and relationships, in culture and memory, in daily rituals and creative practices. It is shaped by what grounds us, the people, places, practices, and moments that return us to ourselves. When tended to, joy can be a powerful form of care, healing, and active element of public health.

Our roots of joy take many forms. They may be inherited or discovered, communal or individual. They may live in ancestry, movement, rest, nature, spirituality, creativity, friendship, laughter, or solitude. Often, these roots become most visible during periods of burnout, transition, loss, or growth, when what sustains us matters most.

Creativity, through art, letters, stories, and poetry, opens avenues to explore joy beyond standards and definitions. It allows us to reflect on what restores us, to celebrate what keeps us grounded, and to imagine wellbeing not as the absence of illness, but as the presence of meaning, connection, and liveliness.

For this open call, we invite you to reflect on joy as something rooted and sustaining. We are interested in creative works that explore how joy shows up in your life, where it comes from, and how it supports your wellbeing over time. We welcome submissions that consider joy in its many forms—quiet or exuberant, fragile or resilient, reclaimed or newly found—and how it intersects with identity, culture, place, healing, community, and public health.

Using art, letters, stories, and poetry, tell us: How might the roots of your joy sustain your wellbeing?

Note: At this time, submissions will only be accepted if written in English. Submissions should not have been previously published and should be properly formatted with little to no grammatical errors. Submissions will be accepted via Submittable. Please do not include any identifying information in your uploaded file.

If you have questions about this contest, how your submission will be judged, or if your submission answers the open call question, please visit our website or contact us via email at info@light4ph.org. Disclaimer: Entries not related to creating healthy spaces and place will be disqualified.

*** Artificial Intelligence (AI) Guidelines: Although AI represents a new and powerful tool, at LIGHT, we strive to maintain a magazine rooted in community and personal narratives. In other words, AI can be used as a tool, but it should not be the primary creator of your submission.

Entries into the LIGHT open call that utilize AI must:

1) not exceed 10% utilization as determined by AI detection software

2) credit and make explicit the use of AI in the submission

Authors of submissions that utilize AI and fail to meet both requirements will be notified, and their submission will be withdrawn from consideration. Please review this blog post for more information regarding our AI guidelines.

Before submitting to LIGHT, you will be asked to acknowledge and agree to the following:

• I assure that the work I am submitting to LIGHT is original work, owned by myself, OR I have partial ownership of the work and am submitting the work with consent from the person or people who also have ownership of the work. I, or we (if submitting with others), take full responsibility of its veracity falling to myself or my team as authors.
• I attest that the work I am submitting has not been previously published elsewhere (an exception is if it has been published on a personal website, blog, Spotify, etc.).
• I give LIGHT the right to edit, duplicate, and publish my creative work in their open-access literary journal and disseminate this work for promotional reasons via any type of media to a broader audience.
• I understand LIGHT reserves the right to revoke and remove any submission from the open call for submissions, prize winnings, and acceptance of publication that may be deemed harmful, slanderous, malicious, or AI-generated (exceeding 10%), regardless of how well created or written it is.
• I acknowledge that I will not receive any compensation for LIGHT's use of my creative work, except that of a monetary prize if my creative work places as a top submission (see LIGHT’s open call prizes for more details).
• I understand that I cannot make a claim as a violation against usage rights against LIGHT related to the use of my creative work. If submitting concurrently, I will withdraw my submission if it is accepted elsewhere.
• I understand that I own all rights to my submission post-publication, and I will credit LIGHT as the original publisher if I choose to publish my creative work elsewhere.
• If my submission is selected to be included in the LIGHT magazine, I recognize my name will be published with it.

Confidentiality Kindly note the privacy of individuals should be protected. Public health practitioners who write about individuals and communities should alter identifying details and characteristics.