Happiness

Happiness is 3 kinds of ice cream, watching the sunset, _(three syllable word)____ too.  This is what comes to mind when I think about happiness.  It is a bubble gummy song that I was forced to sing in elementary school at some point in my hazy childhood. It lists off a bunch of enjoyable things (that I obviously can’t remember too well) and calls them happiness.  I remember thinking, even with my infantile brain, that this song was ridiculous and untrue.  I remember thinking there must be more….

Nice little intro for a deep thought provoking article on happiness right?  Well you probably won’t get that depth from me right now, but I can recommend a book if you crave the depth.

I have just finished this great book generously given to me on my birthday (thank you Kelly.)  The book reports on the findings and conclusions of the study of happiness.  Don’t laugh.  It is a real study and at some universities you can become a Happiologist.  This book was wonderful.  This guy, an NPR reporter, travels the globe trying to figure out what various cultures consider happiness and what would make himself more happy.  The book is called The Geography of Bliss and the writer is Eric Weiner- ironic name for a guy studying happiness.

The book is very witty, entertaining, and insightful.  It’s also very informative.  I learned a lot about happiness.  And cultures.  Did you know that money doesn’t (after a certain threshold) make people happier?   A trip to Qatar proves this.  Did you know that a belief in reincarnation can make you happier?  Or that women who get breast augmentation always report higher levels of happiness many years after the procedure?  Did you know that Moldova is mostly unhappy because Moldovans compare themselves to others that have more?  Did you know that a country called Moldova exists?  Moldova was his unhappy place- used as a scientific baseline of sorts.  I learned that babies smile 400 times a day while adults only smile 17 times.  I also learned many new words (very impressive vocabulary this guy has.  Makes me like him more.)  Because of this book I now have an almost irrepressible desire to go to Iceland!  I want to go in the winter, with all the cozy darkness.

In the end, it is the relationships in life, with a sprinkling of hopeful optimism, that make for a happy life.  Duh!  But how this conclusion was reaches was still a very interesting read.  I highly recommend it to all.

I am off on a nautical adventure shortly.  I am going to Hawaii for a few days on Oahu and then a cruise to the major islands.  I am thinking this vacay will make me very happy (although the book teaches me that this happiness will be short lived and may be followed by a trough of somberness.)  I am still willing to go on the trip though:)

My whole mom’s side of the family are going- except for the unfortunate few out on their missions right now.  Sorry Dallin!  It should be a great time.  If I go out on a 3 hour tour and get lost on some unknown island, don’t look too hard for me!  I will update the blog with pictures- even if I have to use an invented coconut phone for internet access.  Don’t be envious of my trip though- envy is one of the main thing that makes unhappy countries unhappy.

Bon Voyage (to me, not you)