the happiness project

 Cornwall, October 6th, 2014

“Happiness project” by Gretchen Rubin is a book I came across in various airports and bookshops in the past year or two, leafed through it and left it there. I only bought it in Boston airport few weeks ago - and I am glad I did. I finished reading it yesterday and in many ways, this is an inspiring book for me at this point of my “journey” with the creativity “project”. 

Gretchen is an ex-lawyer and has written books on Winston Churchill and J.F.Kennedy before, but her “Happiness project” became a bestseller - as the colorful cover says: one million copies sold. 

What made it an "acceptable" self-help book for myself, is a clever mix of research, inspirational quotes and personal experience. The main heroine (Gretchen) undertakes a journey to improve her happiness in one year, by concentrating on one aspect each month (January - clutter, February - marriage, March - lighten up). What works in that wild mix? A heroine who one can identify with, a journey limited in time, the chapters. Unfortunately, the book does not include links to the research (some of it is well-known, some of it is new to me), and the first part is better than the second one, but overall, an enjoyable read with few inspiring things to remember ... 

For myself, it provided encouragement - here is someone who was not an “expert on happiness”, and yet, managed over a reasonable period of time (maybe it took her more than a year) to write something which had impact for myself and for thousands, well, maybe even a million of other people. 

On the more technical aspects, maybe I can be inspired by

• do not be shy to be the main “heroine” of this journey
• make some chapters/structure to provide a sense of a “journey”
• do not be afraid to mix research references and “autoethnography” 
• the list of “12 commandements” starting with “Be Gretchen” as something to refer to as well as “4 splendid truths” - people like lists ... (I am sure there is a list on why people like lists somewhere on the internet)
• do not be afraid to share my doubts (Gretchen’s main doubt seems to be - who am I to write about happiness when I am living a comfortable life in New York with my family, only someone like Nelson Mandela or people who overcame severe depression should be “allowed” to write about happiness) 
  

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