Big ideas: ways of thinking about happiness, fun and joy:
Feelings are wild things
This metaphor comes from Thomas Doherty and Panu Pihkala. Feelings are like wild creatures. They come and go. So happiness will come again. But we also need to be ready to recognise it, and make space for it.
I like this metaphor because it reminds me of the moments of connection I’ve had with animals and plants and the pleasure that brings. It also reminds me not to try and capture a feeling and hold on to it, but instead to create opportunities for them to visit, and to be ready to appreciate them when they arrive.
You can listen to Thomas Doherty and Panu Pihkala talk about happiness and joy, and Thomas Doherty describe his encounter with an owl.
Climate Change and Happiness Season 2: Episode 19
We can learn to be happier
In The How of Happiness , Sonja Lyubomirsky says that our potential for happiness is partly under our influence and partly out of our control. In her book she provides twelve strategies for increasing happiness, along with practices to carry out. One thing I took from the book is the recommendation to match the practices we choose to try to our lifestyles, strengths values and the troubles in our lives. The practices all have downsides as well as benefits, and I like that these are acknowledged in the book.
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Practices
What do you love?
The Active Hope programme begins with gratitude and the question “what do you love?”.
Spending time thinking about the things you love can bring pleasure in the moment, but also helps attune us to looking for the things that give us joy.
Some other ideas that have a similar purpose are:
- Writing and sending thank you letters (from The How of Happiness)
- Keeping a gratitude journal
Learning to find pleasure in ordinary experiences
I firs came across this idea while learning to come to terms with chronic illness. And I think it could also be helpful in the climate crisis too. All the painful, bad things that are happening in the world are occurring alongside the joyful and the pleasant things. One doesn’t cancel each other out. We can learn to pay attention to the pleasant things by:
- Take time to stop and notice whatever pleasant things are occurring at that moment, no matter how small (from Mindfulness for Health by Breathworks)
- Make a list of three small pleasures at the end of the day (from Mindfulness for Health by Breathworks)