Project Happiness Articles — book

Journaling brings happiness because it helps us to see the forest through the trees. The act of writing helps us prioritize the people, places, activities, and work that foster joy and meaning in our lives.

If happiness is available to us at any moment through the power of our minds, why does it sometimes seem so hard to do? When our thoughts run amok, how do we choose better ones? We’ve all had those experiences (moments, hours, even days!) when finding a happier thought seemed nearly impossible. When endless loops of worry, frustration, overwhelm, etc. not only challenged our ability to find our happy place, they caused us to forget we even had the choice.

What does the word happiness mean to you? Though we all want the same thing, happiness, love, to live a meaningful life, to rise to our potential, there is no set formula – the path is different for each one of us. But one thing is sure: happiness is at the core. Our natural state is one of joy; we are here to feel alive. When we vibrate from a place of joy, we are attuned to who we really are. This allows life to open up to us, and allows us to meet that energy in ways we might not have previously imagined.

Connection is my shorthand for the incomparable bliss of knowing and embracing your values and true self, authentically moving through the world nurturing positive connections with other people and the world around you. The idea of connecting (to your own self, to other people, and to any other aspect of our lives) is something with intuitive appeal for us. Life is really all about relationships – how we relate to ourselves, to others, to the world, to our work, etc. What would happen if we focused on strengthening all of those relationships, instead of trying to be “happy”?

We all can learn to embrace the power of our emotions, and instead of being hijacked by them, use them as an inner GPS to create the life we love. It is 100% possible and more intuitive than you think. Know that everything you need is inside of you – this is a reminder of how to get back to your true nature, back to your calm, strong and very best self.

Though there are various systems of organizing emotions – ranging from five individual “families” of emotions (enjoyment, anger, fear, disgust, and sadness), to seven, to ten emotions, all the way to the latest research by Dr. Dacher Keltner and Alan Cohen pointing to smooth gradients of twenty-seven emotions. Brené Brown’s research has highlighted thirty emotions. For the purpose of this book, in order to take a deep dive on selected emotions, I have narrowed it down to the ten. Each one is more fascinating than the last. 

When we get into a relationship we seem to try to be perfect, we wear masks for fear of not having that person see us the same way they originally thought, we won’t show parts of ourselves because we don’t want to admit our faults, in fear of not being loved.