Hit or Bliss

So I just finished reading The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner, and I highly recommend it.  It is part travel book, part self-help book but not in the schmaltzy way I associate with books telling you how to be happy.  He doesn't offer any real answers, only a few possible ones, and some observations that are downright confusing.  And yet, it's real and funny and insightful.

A few weeks before I came upon The Geography of Bliss,  I decided to finally read Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture.  Pretty much everyone knows the story of this Carnegie Mellon professor who gave his life's last lecture knowing he was about to die of pancreatic cancer.  I was in need of some inspiration...but boy did I look in the wrong place.  I found it really depressing, even aside from the whole impending death part.  He focuses on making childhood dreams come true.  My "dream job" as a child was to be a medical illustrator, and now that seems like the most boring, tedious job I could imagine.  Hmm...what now?  Of course I have interests and aspirations, but none so clear and long-standing as Pausch's.  On the other hand, he also derives strength and meaning from his wife and kids.  Hmm, I like that idea, but I don't have kids yet.  Not even a potential kid-maker in sight.  I was left feeling like some vital elements were significantly missing from my life.

But then, thank you, Eric Weiner, you reassured me with your grumpy, confused, sometimes whiny adventure through countries familiar and new.  Not overbearing, just enough, to remind me that normal people have happiness in their own way.  The most comforting part of The Geography of Bliss is that after traveling across the globe to observe happiness, Weiner finds that people find bliss in the quotidian.  Some of the top sources of happiness: relationships, trusting people, willingness to fail, a sense of place & geography, accepting contrasts, boredom!, and in some cases, not thinking too much.  Some cultures even find a sort of happiness in sweet melancholy.  Yes, sadness makes them happy.  I don't really get why boredom would make you happy.  I might have to reread the chapter on Switzerland, but I can definitely glean some happiness from this book.  Mostly it reminded me that it's little things, not big things, that actually make you feel content.  The big things can be overrated.  Winning the lottery for instance - a few years later you return to your baseline of happiness.  A particularly striking chapter in the book takes place in Qatar where Weiner experiences riches and luxuries that are almost nauseating, and far from fulfilling.  Another study in extremes is in Iceland, a country that ranks very high in happiness despite being mostly dark for 6 months out of the year.  I don't remember anyone in the book siting their job as making them happy.  I certainly won't snub a potential dream job or dream guy for that matter, but in the meantime, I am finding bliss in the here and now.  Okay, maybe just looking for bliss in the here and now, but it's a start.

Check out The Geography of Bliss here:

http://www.ericweinerbooks.com/content/index.asp