The Happiness Project

[gnimmel]

I'm interested in happiness.
I mean, everyone is, I guess[1]. But I've been reading discussions like this, and this, and this. And I was thinking about the cheese and pickled onion sandwich.

The thing about the cheese and pickled onion sandwich is this: provided it is the right cheese and pickled onion sandwich (that is to say one with crispy

Comments

[friend_of_tofu]

This is more complicated than I thought! I'm trying to figure out if there is a distinction between "being happy" and "having a good time", which probably means I'm over-thinking it.

I'm quite a grumpy person by nature, so I tend to find that I'm happy in spite the the incredible suckage of the world, and there's probably a bit of "I don't want to be happy, I want to be in picturesque melancholy!" about my attitude, I'm afraid. That said, I'm pretty often surprised by joy (ty, C. S. Lewis), and i think I get happy moments a lot. They often seem to involve plants/nature somehow. For example, I strongly remember lying in our garden in Denmark the summer I was 15 and having a strong, powerful feeling of serenity infused with thoughts about the interconnectedness of everything. It probably wasn't that profound but it *felt* profound, and I'm sure it was a huge influence on the development of my pagan identity.

I get little bits of that feeling very often. I've been positively thrilled lately when I've gone and looked at all the blossom in our garden, particularly on the little baby trees which are just beginning their life, as it were.

Being horribly soppy, the most common feelings of intense happiness/joy/relief are usually when I hug alextiefling, particularly when one or both of us is feeling tired, ill or otherwise upset. I am always surprised at how powerfully soothing that feeling is (we both talk about it a lot, but that doesn't seem t alter it much). As a cynical romantic, I probably oughtn't to be too surprised at how big the impact of love is, but I still am, a little bit. Maybe it's hard to believe in good fortune? At any rate, I definitely see that as the most intense and consistent form of happiness I experience.

[friend_of_tofu]

Oh, and animals. I get intense squeeful moments when I see or think about lots of different animals. Seeing a bee can cause me to behave just like an enthusiastic toddler, for example, and well, if pigs are involved then I'm on cloud 9!

[gnimmel]

Yes, I get the animals thing (I think). Some of it for me I think is beauty and variety, and some of it is uncomplicatedness; a sense that nature doesn't particularly care whether or not I exist, has no secrets it cares to hide or ulterior motives, it just is.

[caulkhead]

Yes, this, though for me it tends to be looking at trees or the sea or mountains rather than animals.

Specific memory: last year, in the middle of a rather horrible lot of stress about deadlines and procrastination, standing looking at the blue sky through the new green leaves, feeling the sun on my face and knowing that none of it really *mattered*.