Project Happiness Articles — connection

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.

“We want to reclaim the word ‘manic.’  The vagina monologues has done an incredible amount of work de-stigmatising female sexuality and we wanted to do the same thing with mental illness.”  Zack and Elisa started off soliciting stories from Facebook and Sanford communities and put together 15 stories of mental illness, from sad and heartbreaking, to hilarious, uplifting and, powerful.  Manic Monologues ran three sold out shows in May 2019 at Stanford and will run at UCLA in February 2020.

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”?

"Make a list of things that make you happy.Make a list of thing you do every day.Compare the lists. Adjust accordingly."

Thanksgiving is suffering from Middle Child Syndrome. Halloween rolls in like the younger sibling: full of charisma and charm, in full party-mode!  Christmas, obviously the older sibling, looms responsibly tall, revered and sacred. Thanksgiving?  Well...it's stuffed in the middle. Turduckenned.

So do you believe in Atlantis? Or would you rather believe in Nartec? Either way, believe in your determination and ability to survive, above all. The world around us may drown us with troubles we think we wouldn’t be able to handle, but we are stronger than we think ourselves to be and sometimes require our friends to remind us of that.

Who am I to preach? I spend a minimum of eight hours in front of my computer screen when I’m at work, and a couple of hours extra on my phone and in front of the TV when I get home. However, I’m well aware of the bad influence this has on my health, so I try to give my brain the opportunity to rest. It’s what digital detox is all about.

I am at this gorgeous new mall and I want to buy a new dress, but I can’t decide. Time is running out, I am getting late and I have to make it quick. Have you ever walked out of a store simply because you don’t know what to buy? Well then, welcome to the ‘don’t know’ block.

I started to realize that my meaningful conversation starting cards actually spark connection. When people are asked, “What’s the biggest mistake of your life?” you cannot help but feel connected after hearing a response. Why? People being vulnerable is the key to connection. As my hero, Brene Brown, says, “Staying vulnerable is a risk we have to take if we want to experience connection.”

Let’s start by addressing the question that comes up most when I share about the Africa Yoga Project: “Is Yoga really what Africa needs?” Although this question was once a source of frustration, I now see it as a great way to open up the conversation of what yoga is truly about and how our understanding has become limited in modern times.