More Happier: Dealing with Doctors’ Appointments, Easy Travel Hacks, and Why We Might Put Someone on Mute

EPISODE NOTES

Something Making Us (More) Happier

Elizabeth is completely caught up on doctors’ appointments, dentist appointments, and all vaccines.

We talk about the First Splendid Truth from my book The Happiness Project: To be happier, we need to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.

Gretchen: This year, I managed to put up our Halloween decorations well before October 31.

I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You

I have a new travel hack: the Yoozon portable tripod, selfie stick, and desktop holder. It’s very lightweight and folds up small, so it’s great for packing.

I also mention my Auxiwa clip on selfie ring light.

Elizabeth’s co-host for Happier in Hollywood, Sarah Fain, recommends packing cubes. She bought the Monos packing cubes; Elizabeth bought the Away packing cubes.

I love putting things in bags, pouches, or folders — which is one reason I was excited to create “The days are long but the years are short” pouch. It’s perfect for supplies, pens, cords, or anything you want to keep organized.

Spotlight on a Tool

One way to make the holidays more fun? Start prepping early. For ideas on how to start, check out my free Holiday Jump-start. It has know-yourself-better questions, a holiday bingo card, planning hacks, and more.

I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You

I’ve noticed that the language of devices has seeped into everyday conversation: Please hold; You’re on mute; Pause; Rewind.

Quotation

“The rack stood as if it had been there forever across the landscape and lit by the sun with its long shadow behind it, and in harmony with every fold of the field and finally turned into a mere form, a primordial form, even if that was not the word I used then, and it gave me huge pleasure just to look at it. I can still feel the same thing today when I see a hayrack in a photograph from a book, but all that is a thing of the past now…so the feeling of pleasure slips into the feeling that time has passed, that it is very long ago, and the sudden feeling of being old.”
– Per Petterson, Out Stealing Horses