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Happiness sold where?

The Barren Bi+ches just finished touring about Lolly Winston’s Happiness Sold Separately. But even if you weren’t on the tour, KEEP READING. This post isn’t about the book; it’s about happiness and where we find it.

For Winston, happiness was sold separately from what? From marriage? From children? And where was it sold? Do you have to go to a specialty store for it? And do they take Ameri.can Exp.ress? Can I get a bulk discount?

This wondering also fits with Mel’s Happiness Challenge, now entering it’s 3rd month. I’ll have to confess to her that I failed miserably with my October commitment to meditate daily.

As I finished the tour, I asked Sharah: So, where IS happiness sold? She responded with a post about what brings her happiness. She included both things she buys and things she doesn’t. I thought it such a good idea I’m going to do the same.

6 things I pay for that come with happiness

  • A cup of coffee at a shop with free wireless internet. I could spend hours just surfing blogs and checking out the thoughts of my fellow humans. While downing good joe.
  • My new epilator. It hurts like hell to pluck out all the hairs on my legs, even if I take two Ad.vil 20 minutes ahead of time. But by next summer, I plan to be quite happy by not having to shave. At. All.
  • My iPod: as someone old enough to remember 8-track tapes (just barely), it is mind boggling that I can have every single one of my favorite songs, including Afternoon Delight and the Rent soundtrack, at the ready. A good song at the right moment can make my spirits soar, make me lose myself deliciously into something divine and undefined.
  • My weekly weight-loss yoga class. 1 – it’s a haven. 2 – I’m in my body for a whole hour, honoring it, strengthening it, stretching it, and loving it (well, that’s the idea). 3 – I’m starting to feel better in my own skin.
  • An outing to Old Navy:. I don’t know why, but it’s the one place I kinda like to shop.
  • Planetarium: I don’t go there often, but when I do and I gaze at the indoor stars, I get this simultaneous feeling of being both a meaningless speck of dust yet also possibly the dreamer of the entire dream. THE DREAMER OF THE ENTIRE DREAM! Blows. My. Mind.

6 things free that come with happiness

  • My woobie. It’s a bag of buckwheat wrapped in a small pillowcase that I warm up in the microwave and hold to stay warm in the winter. It cost $10 a few years ago but its cost per use is practically nil.
  • The right to vote. I know elections are no fun to endure, but I am so grateful to all the people who have died and sacrificed in other unimaginable ways so that I might live in a country that was built on self-governance and freedom (in theory). I would be very unhappy under most other regimes.
  • My parents and sisters. They’ve just always been there. They are so good to me and good for me. And they also crack me up.
  • My husband likes to cook. This makes me and my tummy extremely happy about 4 nights a week.
  • My daughter’s snaggle-tooth smile and my son’s enchanting giggle. Both are instant mood-lifters.
  • The Sunday mornings when Roger brings me the paper in bed and a cup of coffee with just the right amount of cream and says, “You relax. I’ll get up with the kids.”

If you are reading, consider yourself tagged. Where do you find your happiness?

10 Responses

  1. Good answers. I find my happiness in the warm sunshine on my face, my husband’s joyful laugh, my writing, a lovely glass of wine with friends, planning a new adventure, taking a quiet walk at dawn…and sharing with my blogging friendsThanks for giving me a reason to contemplate my sources of happiness. Hope you get much of it in return!

  2. Niobe — I highly recommend a mojito (or 2) before epilating.Sheri — your family sounds a lot like mine! HAHA.Deathstar — I guess I have to check out the threaded eyebrow thing. Does it hurt as much as epilating?

  3. I found my happiness in simple things like:Free – chanting, whether on my own or with other people; having coffee in bed reading the paper and petting my dog; walking my dog, listening to music and not having feel like I need to pee; eating biscuits with butter; a snuggle with my hubby; laughing so hard it hurts the back of my head.Paid – finding a pair of pants that fit; new shoes; a pedicure; a hot stone massage or any massage for that matter; going the movies; threaded eyebrows (it’s like an instant facelift).

  4. I agree that family is extremely important. For me it includes the family I am raising and the family in which I was raised.My kids say the funniest things and really teach me about life. My husband and kids are four sources of happiness in my life.My family of origin is always there for me, cheering me on, laughing with me and loving me. Again, another four sources of happiness. So, if I am to come up with 6 freebies and 6 paid happiness sources, I’ve got a great start with 8 already!

  5. I’m definitely with you on the coffee + wireless, Old Navy, and planetariums (planetaria?).I’ve never heard of this epilator thing, but it sounds pretty good too.

  6. Good answers. I find my happiness in the warm sunshine on my face, my husband’s joyful laugh, my writing, a lovely glass of wine with friends, planning a new adventure, taking a quiet walk at dawn…and sharing with my blogging friendsThanks for giving me a reason to contemplate my sources of happiness. Hope you get much of it in return!

  7. Niobe — I highly recommend a mojito (or 2) before epilating.Sheri — your family sounds a lot like mine! HAHA.Deathstar — I guess I have to check out the threaded eyebrow thing. Does it hurt as much as epilating?

  8. I found my happiness in simple things like:Free – chanting, whether on my own or with other people; having coffee in bed reading the paper and petting my dog; walking my dog, listening to music and not having feel like I need to pee; eating biscuits with butter; a snuggle with my hubby; laughing so hard it hurts the back of my head.Paid – finding a pair of pants that fit; new shoes; a pedicure; a hot stone massage or any massage for that matter; going the movies; threaded eyebrows (it’s like an instant facelift).

  9. I agree that family is extremely important. For me it includes the family I am raising and the family in which I was raised.My kids say the funniest things and really teach me about life. My husband and kids are four sources of happiness in my life.My family of origin is always there for me, cheering me on, laughing with me and loving me. Again, another four sources of happiness. So, if I am to come up with 6 freebies and 6 paid happiness sources, I’ve got a great start with 8 already!

  10. I’m definitely with you on the coffee + wireless, Old Navy, and planetariums (planetaria?).I’ve never heard of this epilator thing, but it sounds pretty good too.

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