I wasn’t someone who thought happiness had to be earned. But for a long time, I was unhappy—just moving through life, surviving. It wasn’t until my early 30s that I realized happiness was something I had to fight for.

For 20+ years, I was in a marriage (still together) where I struggled, yet I held onto my joy. No matter what happened between us, I refused to let go of that part of myself. I knew how to protect my happiness. But when COVID hit, everything changed.

At the time, I was working in a senior center, serving older adults. The constant push and pull of the job—the stress, the emotional weight, the demands—slowly wore me down. The trauma of that time cracked me in a way nothing else had. I found myself in a place I hadn’t been in years, drowning under the weight of it all.

But I knew how to get back up. I had done it before.I reached for the tools that had saved me before—art, self-care, intentional joy, an accountability partner. And once again, they carried me through.

That’s why I created ¡Defiantly Happy!—because I know what it means to struggle, to fall, and to fight your way back to joy. This isn’t just about happiness; it’s about choosing it, over and over again, no matter what life throws your way.

Here, you’ll find art, handmade self-care products, and words that remind you of your own power to reclaim joy. Because happiness isn’t passive—it’s a decision. A bold, unapologetic, defiant choice.

Welcome to ¡Defiantly Happy! where no permission is needed.

~ Maggie Hernandez-Knight