The Happiness Project & Interview with Gretchen Rubin: How Do You Cultivate Happiness?
The Happiness Project is, to my mind, a dream job. Gretchen Rubin has now written a book (it comes out in December) about her year researching and testing theories about how to be happy. She interviewed me for her site and for Slate.
I connected up with Gretchen through her blog - and one of the first things I did was watch her video, "The Years Are Short." (Go on, have a look.) Gretchen's Twitter stream explores the vast world of happiness and so she's on my Daily Reads Twitter List. She's friends with my friends Chris Guillebeau and Danielle LaPorte, who also excel at the art of asking questions. So here's a question for you.
What makes you happy? Should happiness be a life pursuit or is it a right? Are you happier when you're not thinking about happiness (Gretchen?)? Happiness, I believe, is similar to flow - the moment you think you're in flow, you lose it. The moment you're sure you have figured out a way to rig your life to make you most happy, it eludes you. (Hence, melancholy, which I discuss in the interview.)
Do you actively work on cultivating your happiness? If so, how?
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If you're new here, hi!. To get a feel for what's going on around here, you might start with the most popular post: "How to Create Your Personal Manifesto" - please let me know if you decide to create yours, either in the comments or on the say hello page. It's a great fit for those of you already working on your personal Happiness Project Toolbox.
Thanks for stopping by, happy reading, subscribing and joining the conversation here or on Twitter.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Reader Comments (4)
You WOULD get a hedgehog in your cappuccino. Except wait, I thought you kicked your caffeine habit?
Liz Been off coffee/espresso for a month. Want to know what I miss the most? Latte art.
Lovely to discover you thanks to Gretchen's interview. Always a pleasure to find more cool women on the web.
Nice to see that you don't drink coffee either. Some of my clients like to tease me and invite me out for a "hot chocolate" as they know that's what I treat myself too when I go to a cafe with them!
Otherwise I just stay at home and drink gallons and gallons of chai. Love it. And Yogi tea bags with the little mantra. And I am not even a "brand enthusiast" for them. But now you have introduced me to the term it's something to aim for. Free tea bags. Yes, that would make me happy:)
If you can handle knowing any more about me just check out my blog - you're right, I have one. But don't worry, I've subscribed to yours and will be back. Keep up the great work and thanks for writing and writing well.
I always love when I discover new people through connections. Wonderful interview with Gretchen and I'm so amazed at all the fabulous work you've done. I'll have to check out more about Yoga and the Social Web ... I'm taking yoga teacher training in February so would love to see this perspective. Thanks Gwen - new follower here!