5 Things Making Me Happy

Reading makes me happy, and I heard an interesting idea from two writer friends. Laura Vanderkam does year-long reading projects where she reads one chapter each day of works such as War and Peace and Shakespeare. Inspired by this idea, Ruth Franklin is planning to read the four volumes of Robert Caro’s The Years of Lyndon Johnson. If you want follow along or join in, use #caroin2023.

I was so happy to watch the season premiere of Fantasy Island. With every episode, I get such a thrill from seeing my sister’s name appear during the opening credits; it never gets old to see “Elizabeth Craft” flash on the screen. (Something else that makes me happy when I watch TV? Captions. You can see in the photo that I have the captions turned on.) Plus, even when Elizabeth has described a plot line to me, I’m always so curious to see how the answer to the question “What can the island do for you?” plays out.


A thoughtful listener sent me an idea for a great five-senses experiment: eat a cold orange in a hot shower. What a great suggestion! The fragrance of the fruit, the contrast in temperature, the freedom from worry about the stickiness of the juice, the surprise at tasting something while showering…it was really fun.


I made a big happiness-boosting discovery recently. I love to read, but I can’t listen to audiobooks; somehow, my brain just doesn’t process the words. But I discovered that I can enjoy the audio version of a book I’ve already read. I love to re-read, but rarely have time to re-read beloved books, so realizing that I could enjoy re-reading through my ears has been a huge boon. Also, I’ve found, I appreciate a book in a new way when I’m listening to it. For instance, with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, I noticed much more how Austen wove the themes of “pride” and “prejudice” throughout the novel. The words stood out more clearly when I was listening than when I was reading.

Holiday items put away and back in storage! I was relieved to get this major chore accomplished by the start of the new year.

|