The Happiness Project: Happiness interview with me.

THE HAPPINESS PROJECT is the memoir of the year I spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier – happily, it was a #1 New York Times bestseller. As one of the hundreds of experiments I've conducted, I started this blog. Here, I recount my daily adventures in pursuit of happiness. –

Gretchen Rubin

Twelve Personal Commandments

Four Splendid Truths

First: To be happier, you have to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.
Second: One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy; One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
Third: The days are long, but the years are short. (click the link to see my one-minute movie)
Fourth: You’re not happy unless you think you’re happy.

30-Second
TV Commercial

What Started Me Thinking

"The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer somebody else up." Mark Twain
“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.” Robert Louis Stevenson
"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41-42
“Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.” Simone Weil
“What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.” Colette
“It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light.” G. K. Chesterton
“A man’s first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart.” Joseph Addison
“Best is good. Better is best.” Lisa Grunwald
“Order is Heaven’s first law.” Alexander Pope

Happiness Theories I Reject

Flaubert: "To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness; though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless."
Vauvenargues: “There are men who are happy without knowing it.”
Eric Hoffer: “The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.”
Sartre: "Hell is other people."
Willa Cather: “One cannot divine nor forecast the conditions that will make happiness; one only stumbles upon them…”
Alexander Smith: “We are never happy; we can only remember that we were so once.”
John Stuart Mill: “Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.”

Happiness interview with me.

Carriedanielle_2 A few days ago, I interviewed Carrie and Danielle – and they just did an interview with me.

It was a lot of fun. It’s always interesting to see how different people pose questions about happiness. Everyone comes at it from a different angle and emphasizes different aspects.

*
I’ve started sending out short monthly newsletters that will highlight the best of the previous month’s posts. If you’d like to sign up, click on the link in the upper-right-hand corner of my blog. Or just email me at grubin, then the “at” sign, then gretchenrubin dot com. No need to write anything more than “newsletter” in the subject line. I’ll add your name to the list.

Posted July 10, 2008 in Interview

Comments

I would love to read the interview, but their choice of light gray type on a white background is too low contrast for my eyes. Too bad; chances are good that their site would be interesting to me but the design stopped me cold!

Posted by: Louise | July 10, 2008 at 01:14 PM

Louise, When I find websites difficult to read, I copy and paste the type into a word document and change the font color and/or size. This article would be worth the effort!

Best Wishes.

Posted by: Frances | July 10, 2008 at 02:56 PM

Louise, I agree that a lot of people don't think about the readability of their Website and assume everybody has great vision or a high-quality screen. White (or yellow) on a black background is even worse than gray on white.

Posted by: HuntGrunt | July 10, 2008 at 11:35 PM

Your site is fabulous! Especially for women as we tend to neglect ourselves and negate our thoughts.

1. Golden Rule: Treat others as you'd want to be treated.
2. Listen to God every minute of the day. He has you next to someone for a reason. I learned that when speaking with someone, and have said something God wanted me to say - I GET chill bumps every time.
3. Listen hardily; speak slowly.
4. Include all of your sisters in this life; in your life. DON'T forget them.
5. We're all angels with one wing; we cannot fly without each other. It's okay to ask for help.

I shall work on my further commandments for happiness. Thanks for listening.

Posted by: Carol Anne | July 13, 2008 at 05:38 PM

Hi Gretchen,
If you are interested in emotion theories, you can see mine at:
http://subjectsandrelations.com/
I believe there are five different types of happiness. Although my theory isn't actually about how to be happy, it places happiness in context with the other most common emotions.

Posted by: John Huber | July 22, 2008 at 02:02 AM

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

Posted by: |

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Your comment could not be posted. Error type:

Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Gretchen Rubin is the best-selling writer whose book, The Happiness Project, is the account of the year she spent test-driving studies and theories about how to be happier. Here, she shares her insights to help you create your own happiness project.