Advice from Samuel Butler
Earlier this year I read The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin
Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. "The days are long, but the years are short," she realized. "Time is passing, and I'm not focusing enough on the things that really matter." In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.
In this lively and compelling account, Rubin chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Among other things, she found that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that money can help buy happiness, when spent wisely; that outer order contributes to inner calm; and that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference.
I've been working on a set of guidelines for myelf, based on some of the things in the book. One of the most important to me was “What you like is what you like, and realize it is okay to want to like things but still not like them.” And, today, just when I needed a reminder, this quote showed up in my inbox this morning, from the Happiness Project daily email:
“I should like to like Schumann’s music better than I do; I dare say I could make myself like it better if I tried; but I do not like having to try to make myself like things; I like things that make me like them at once and no trying at all.”
- Samuel Butler
It’s kind of reassuring to know that there are lots of people out there who struggle with being themselves, even successful Victorian authors.
Oh, and for the record, I actually do like Schumann’s music. ;)