My cutting edge is low EQ. I've taken careful stock of the current state of enlightenment factors and it is painfully obvious that joy is the missing ingredient. What advice can you give me about finding and cultivating a spontaneous, authentic joy that will help me move things along?

Your last log entry is one year ago today. What's been happening? Did you do any metta exercises? Can you get any positive emotions going with metta? Have you explored the jhanas/concentration meditation? Did you get any bliss going?
I'd try working with these things a bit and see what happens.
Good luck,
~D

Pay attention throughout your day as to how you are feeling. Some times you will feel more relaxed, open, happy, calm, etc (this is the stuff you want to develop) while at other times you will feel more closed in, shut down, tension, irritation, etc. Becoming aware of these mood shifts can help a great deal. Because then you can start looking at really how the feel - feel as in the body and mind - try to tune into how it is that you know you are happy for example - what kind of sensations are telling you? Look at how these things develop and play with developing them. You can ask yourself “what does joy feel like?” and really try to tune into what that. Similarly, when you are feeling happy for example play around with ‘can I increase this’ and so on. Give allot of attention to body posture and where you might be holding tension in the body. Make an experiment out of your day to day life.

In other words, you take the basic building blocks of your day to day experience and start cultivation there with whatever you have. Cultivate the qualities that you are looking for and pay attention to what feeds them. Then when you sit in meditation these skills are ready and waiting to kick in - it will become automatic.

Well I've been working with a teacher and doing a lot of insight practice (noting). I was making nice headway until winter set in, which sucked a lot of the off-the-cushion joy out of my life, being one of those people who finds rapture and bliss in nature, and stagnation and depression in gray, cold, confining winters. So the last 3 months of winter correlated with some backsliding and stagnation on the cushion as well.

I have not done much metta or concentration practice, but I will certainly keep these in mind and experiment with them. Thanks.

Thank you, this is very helpful.