You know what else makes me happy? Books. And talking about books with other people who like them. Yay new bookclub!

Things that make me happy

Some things that make me happy:

• Sunshine


• Hanging out with friends


• Unexpected compliments


• Smiles from strangers


• A job well done


• Being up early for a change


• Good sleep


• A nice meal


• The feeling of completion

A comment on one of my entries also makes me happy. Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project read my blog and left me a comment! Very nice. Thanks for the compliment, Gretchen, and thanks for the inspiration!

Built-in Happiness

I have been reading Gretchen Rubin's blog, The Happiness Project, regularly over the last number of months and she has some really interesting insights and quotations about life and how to be happy.

This Bob Dylan quote from his memoir, Chronicles, is particularly poignant:

“I looked at the menu, then I looked at my wife. The one thing about her that I always loved was that she was never one of those people who thinks that someone else is the answer to their happiness. Me or anybody else. She’s always had her own built-in happiness.”

I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be happy and where I derive my source of joy. It seems like such a easy task to be happy, as it is an elemental emotion, but it seems to be an elusive condition for so many people so often. It means different things for different people, but the most important thing you can do is figure out what it means for you. An important, but not so easy, step.