The Happy Project

I've been completely enthralled with The Happiness Project, after hearing Gretchen Rubin on NPR. I suppose I too have been trying to figure out what makes us happy in an attempt to figure out why I have been feeling down lately. What jumped out at me were two things that research has shown make for happier lives: Challenges and Novelty. We like new things to happen in our lives, and we are happiest when we challenge ourselves. I related somehow. I seem to be a glutton for seeking new ideas, new ways of thinking about things (which is why I am so smitten by this site). Ideas are my chocolate. In a neat two-for-one deal, they both are novel and challenge me. We have all been almost brainwashed with the whole "secret" idea, where what we think is what we bring into our lives. And sure enough, the crap floating around in my brain seems to just fester more. I have plotted many ways of getting myself out of the vicious cycle: 1. Eating chocolate. Works for a minute or two. 2. Self induced orgasms. see #1. 3. Finding new ways to meet people. Have recently discovered meetup.com and actually sat in a coffee shop with real, live people and written (its a writing group). We even went out for lunch after. I was thrilled. 4. Buying a new washer/dryer (filled with frustration, though the chimes at the end of each cycle still make me smile) 5. Put dance music on the stereo (Sissor Sisters is the current fav) 6. Actually tried to break my face out of its perpetual frown and nearly cracked it with an early morning smile. OK, maybe it was too early. #3,5 and 6 were the only ones that really made a difference. And this makes sense when reading Gretchen's blog. Here she gives tips on what to do in a Happiness Emergency. Connection with others seems pretty important, as does acting happy. Apparently, I also need to clean out a few nagging closets. Come to think of it, I can think of several areas of my house that could use some drastic Virgo intervention. The problem is, I have a meetup.com meeting, where I will hopefully be writing about something, well, happy. Gotta run, the damn dryer is chirping again, and I know that duvet still isn't dry... OK, maybe I still have a long way to go on the happiness scale... Happy thoughts...happy thoughts...