"Happier at Home" -
Can I share with you my new obsession? Ok, thank you!
So have you ever heard of the Happiness Project? Well it's this fantastic book written by Gretchen Rubin and she takes readers along on her year-long experiment in making resolutions and keeping them in order to be a happier person. She has come out with another book called Happier at Home, and I swear, it's like she wrote it just for me. I've just started reading it, so really, what do I know, right? But no, seriously, you guys... it's amazing.Here's a 1-minute trailer so you can understand it a little better: This is straight from her site:
As she conducted the year-long project that became The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin realized that her home, in all its aspects, was the most crucial element influencing her happiness.So, starting in September (the new January), Gretchen dedicated a school year—from September through May—to concentrate on the factors that matter for home, such as possessions, marriage, time, parenthood, body, neighborhood. How can she control the cubicle in her pocket? How might she highlight her family’s most treasured possessions? How, for so long, had she overlooked the importance of the sense of smell? And it really was time to replace that dud toaster. [Source]
OH MY GOSH!!! Doesn't it sound incredible?K, if you're still not convinced, let me share with you some videos and quotes from this brilliant mind.Here are some interesting points:
- 50% of happiness is genetically determined.
- 10-20% is life circumstances (such as age, marital status, health, etc).
- Everything else comes from the way that we think and what we do.
- It's not a matter of what's right or wrong, it's what works for you.
- Make a resolution chart (oooooh making lists - told you this is made for me). Gretchen focused on one aspect of her home per month, dedicating each day of that month to bringing herself (and therefore her family) more happiness.
- "Stay engaged with your possessions." - being engaged with things can make you feel energized (like objects with sentimental meaning), but not being engaged with them can bring you down.
The video below was taken directly from Gretchen's site, also and she talks about the points I just mentioned, in case you want to hear her say them to you.Alright, so does this sound great, or what? She tackles one resolution per month and makes conscious efforts to do things (like REAL things) every day to make herself happier in her home. So I'm going to read this book and I just know I'm going to learn SO MUCH! If you don't want to read whole book, check this out:
You can try a Happiness Project for just 21 days rather than committing to a whole nine months, or even one whole month!And don't they all sound wonderful?So this is my effort to being happier at home. Anyone want to join me?Just so you know, Gretchen has NO IDEA who I am, nor does she know that I am mentioning her books and her site on my little speck of a blog on the ginormous world wide web. I just really loved everything about this book and it was so very fitting with my 31 day series. I couldn't pass up the chance to share it!I'd love to hear your thoughts on this book, whether you have read it or not. Please share!
xo
