The day after my Secrets of Adulthood book tour ended, our puppy Taffy arrived! We already love her so much. Among her many great qualities is that she is a champion sleeper, and sleeps from 10:00 pm-6:30 am without needing to go outside or fussing. I now spend a significant amount of my day filming videos to send to Eleanor; she doesn’t return from college for several weeks but doesn’t want to miss a thing. We were concerned about how our ten-year-old dog Barnaby would adjust to this newcomer. He’s a very sociable, calm dog, and after a brief period of apprehension, he’s adjusted well. I think he has figured out that this change means more treats, toys, and attention for him, because no one wants him to feel neglected.
Onward,
5 Things Making Me Happy
Spending time walking up and down my block with a 9-week-old puppy has made me aware of just how loud New York City is. Sirens blaring, cars honking, helicopters hovering, strollers rattling, dogs barking, music playing, people exclaiming, “Oh, your dog is so cute!” Taffy has been very brave and is getting used to it.
Last week, I circulated a poll about “Reading in Hard Times.” I was curious to hear how people’s reading habits change when they’re facing tough situations. Here are some interesting results:
- 63% of people read more when they feel overwhelmed or anxious
- One person mentioned reading 275 books in 2024 in response to the world!
- When times are tough, 25% of people turn to an old favorite and another 25% seek out page-turners (I’m in the first group)
- People had terrific answers to the question, “You get to name a new book genre based on your comfort reads. What is it? (E.g, Friendly ghosts or Shocking secrets revealed). A few highlights:
- Audible Doggables (stories told from the dog’s perspective)
- Book boyfriends
- Classy old ladies solving crimes
- Cranky heroines persist and prevail
- Hallmark Movie in NYC
- Hiking away from the problem
- Life before cellphones
- Me in another universe (relatable, but I would never do those things)
- Menopausal humor
- Terrible Times in History To Remind You It Could Be Worse
- Whimsicore adventure
I love the sense of smell, so I was delighted when a thoughtful reader of Life in Five Senses told me that the last Saturday in April—this year, April 26th—is “National Sense of Smell Day.” For many people, the sense of smell is their most neglected sense, so this day is a good reminder to appreciate and enjoy this sense. (Don’t know which of the five senses is your most neglected? Take the quick, super-fun “What’s Your Neglected Sense?” quiz here.
Now that I visit the Met so often, I particularly enjoy a new way to observe the artworks there. My mother sent me this whimsical short video—I recognized every piece featured. So fun.
I don’t know how exactly to describe Ella Cordova’s overall…project, but whenever I run into her work online, I absolutely love it. One of my favorite recent videos relates to the Oxford Comma, and as a grammar nerd, I watched it several times. Hilarious, thought-provoking, and I learned some new points about grammar. I was so intrigued that I went to her YouTube page, and ended up signing up on Patreon because I want to follow her new sci-fi book club. Her first choice was Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, which I’d pulled off the shelf just last week to re-read; it seems so relevant to our times.
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This week on Happier with Gretchen Rubin
PODCAST EPISODE: 531
Arrive Right on Time, Benefits of Pill Organizers & the Strongest Way to Make Friends
INTERVIEW
Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D.
My old friend Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., is a cognitive psychologist who is among the top one percent most cited scientists in the world for his groundbreaking research on intelligence, creativity, and human potential. His new book, Rise Above: Overcome a Victim Mindset, Empower Yourself, and Realize Your Full Potential is available now.
Q: Can you suggest something we might try to help ourselves to become happier, healthier, more productive, or more creative?
Don’t take your emotions and thought at face value. Try to create distance from them and not identify with them. Use them as information but not directives. My life truly changed once I realized I can feel something or think something and not act on it. Sometimes I can just let my inner life be.
Q: In your own life, have you found ways to tap into the power of your five senses? (For instance, I often take a sniff of a spice jar as I pass through my kitchen to help ground me in the present moment.)
Yes! For me especially, I find that using the sense of touch can calm me down.
I’ll wear a metal ring and touch it to ground me, for instance. For some reason touching metal grounds me!
Q: Is there a particular motto that you’ve found very helpful? (I remind myself to “Be Gretchen.”) Or a quotation that has struck you as particularly insightful?
Don’t be a victim to your inner world. We often talk about being a victim of circumstances, but in my new book RISE ABOVE I talk about all the ways in which we can empower ourselves by not being a victim to our limiting beliefs and stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves.
Q: What simple habit boosts your happiness or energy?
It sounds so cliché, but exercise, exercise, exercise!
Q: Has a book ever changed your life – if so, which one and why?
Toward a Psychology of Being by Abraham Maslow really changed my life. It inspired me to scientifically study the farther reaches of human nature and human potential. What are we truly capable of as a species? We have yet to find out!
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