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Pursue Your Happiness With Posts From TrèsSugar Past
It's Pursuit of Happiness Week, so let's look back at posts that made us smile, or maybe just consider it. Nothing wrong with that! Test your knowledge on the science of happiness; tell us how you lift your spirits; or find out if love really is all you need and if happiness has an expiration date.
Facebook Measures How Happy We Are
Apparently this is a real metric: Facebook recently announced it would begin to track our gross national happiness via status messages. The social networking company worked with a team of social psychologists to come up with lists of positive words ("yay," "happy," and "awesome," for example) and negative words ("sad," "doubt," "tragic.")
It then published an index of how we are collectively feeling day-to-day. Turns out we're happiest on national holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, and social holidays like Halloween.
Say What? Martha Stewart's Idea of Happiness
"A verdant landscape filled with beautiful animals of all kinds, harp music, cumulus clouds in a bright-blue sky, and happy people conversing pleasantly, sipping cold sake from homemade bamboo cups."
—Martha Stewart shares her idea of perfect happiness with Vanity Fair. Who doesn't love hanging out with animals to the sound of harp music, while tipsy on sake?
How Do You Feel About Having Children?
Maureen Dowd asks why women seem unhappier today than ever in her New York Times column over the weekend. Are they unhappier? Women today seem way happier than the defeated and bitter Betty Draper on Mad Men.
Do Tell: What Do You Do to Lift Your Spirits?
I'm a fan of motivational tips because even though some of them may seem corny and random, they can be helpful in a pinch.
I needed a picker-upper the other day and was reminded of this list of things to do to ensure a better life. It may sound silly, but doing two things on the list — eating almonds and taking a walk while grinning like a weirdo (OK, that's not how he put it!) really did boost my mood.
If Only It Were This Easy, or Is It?
Source: megpickard.tumblr.com
Quiz: What Do You Know About the Science of Happiness?
Psychology, before Martin Seligman arrived on the scene, focused on trauma, grief, and sadness. (Thanks, Doktor Freud!) But when Seligman started his Positive Psychology field around 10 years ago, he believed that the science of happiness could help people learn how to be happier. Ten years later, he and his researchers have modified their theories.
Do You Think There's an Ideal Age For Happiness?
I found the results of this study dubious, and then I read that Clairol Perfect 10 sponsored the research, asking 4,000 women between ages 25 and 65 at what age they were happiest.
The answer? 28, before visible aging occurs (wrinkles, gray hair — you know, the things Clairol has products for) and when sex is supposed to be best.
Can Being Unhappy Have a Purpose?
I say yes. Without a cup half empty, you could never appreciate it full. Like the stinging burn that tells you to take your hand off a hot pot, unhappiness slows you down, asks you to take stock and, hopefully, helps you to make decisions.
All You Need Is Love? Study Finds What Makes Us Happy
We can be so caught up in the day-to-day commotion of our lives that it's rare we get a chance to step back and look at life as a whole. But psychiatrist George Vaillant has been doing that every day for the last 42 years as head of the Harvard Study of Adult Development.
The study began in 1937 by following 268 Harvard male undergrads, who were deemed "well-adjusted" by the day's standards.
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