Here in the United States, the holiday season is already well underway. These days, I enjoy even the most boring neighborhood errands, because I like to look at the store decorations and the seasonal items for sale.
Some people enjoy seeing Halloween decorations in August; some people protest when they see preparations for a holiday come “too early.” Which are you?
The holidays are fun, but they can also be a lot of work. One way to alleviate the stress of preparation, so we can enjoy the actual holidays with a more relaxed and festive attitude, is to start preparing early. I created this Holiday Jump-Start to help you have a happier holiday.
Onward,
5 Things Making Me Happy
This week, my podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin had its 400th episode! We asked listeners to send us their favorite ideas, insights, or hacks. They wrote about everything from “Choose the bigger life” to “Follow the one-minute rule” (i.e., if you can do it in less than a minute, do it without delay). One surprise? How many people mentioned our two hacks for finding lost objects: 1) Always glance behind you when you leave a restaurant, taxi, etc. to make sure you haven’t left something behind; 2) Always look hard where the item ought to be (oddly, we often don’t spot something even though it’s in the right place). Finding a lost object is an extremely minor element of a happy life, to be sure, but it’s a help.
I really enjoyed this article about artist Sam Cox, “Mr. Doodle,” and the house he has covered with doodles—the two-minute video is fun to watch.
I’m a gigantic fan of the commentary of the brilliant Mallory Rubin—for instance, on the podcast Binge Mode: Game of Thrones—so I was very interested to read this profile in The New York Times. One of my favorite things about listening to her, in addition to her insight? Her habit of weeping whenever some part of a story is especially moving. As someone who often gets choked up when I re-read my favorite parts of books, I identify.
My website is updated! I’m so grateful for the help of all the brilliant people who worked on it—for their thoughtful decisions, technical expertise, and design chops. Now the site is more appealing to view, easier to search, more accessible, and works better on mobile. I’m particularly happy with the new Resources section—it holds a lot of great material, but the old design was confusing. I have to admit, the site redesign threw me into a bit of an existential crisis. How do I characterize my work? How do I organize my ideas? It was like searching my soul while also renovating my kitchen.
As part of my #Rest22in22, I’ve been trying to take a daily nap—and I love it. So I was very interested to read about Tricia Hersey’s “Nap Ministry" in The New York Times. “If you are not resting,” she says, “you will not make it.” She ties the practice of rest to transcendent values.
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Every Friday, Gretchen Rubin shares 5 things that are making her happier, asks readers and listeners questions, and includes exclusive updates and behind-the-scenes material.
