This book is a quick read. I reread this for mom school, Simply Convivial, where the lesson work was covering the kindness of smiling.
The lesson lead quote was, " It's more selfless to act happy. It takes energy, generosity and
discipline to be unfailingly lighthearted."
It reminded me of the Unsinkable Molly Brown. Widowed a couple times over, multiple
nautical catastrophes, and she was still sailing and cheerful about it.
Since I couldn't remember this part and I did remember enjoying the book, I went back (at 2.5x speed) to review the ideas of lightness as a gift. Gretchen Rubin's experiment is as fun as ever and calls to the rather extreme part of my soul that values heroic endeavour and trial by ordeal - my own family is in engaged in a couple trials by ordeal at the moment, some chosen and others received. I like the idea of categorizing resolutions and working through them in rapid succession.
But I wish there had been more of the philosophy, method, and application, and less focus on the moments of failure which made it smack of the confessional. I wonder if listing those errors made her feel like she could give herself credit for honesty. It is a hard thing to live without a God that covers your sin
As a returning blogger and commonplacer I enjoyed her own beginner blogging stories and her search for the things she loved as a child. My own beginning blog probably came out around the time hers did, but where she was pursuing happiness, I wanted to be taken very seriously. I have learned to laugh at myself since then, as a result I have endless reasons to be smiling.
I noted to my mother that we had similar mothers, "My mother made me feel like nothing is insurmountable if you do a little everyday."
On that note, quolable at points, good for a light read on a long day, helpful to remember the good of being cheerful, and better for remembering active happiness can be a holy endeavor if it is a selfless one.
I think I liked Happier at Home more, but I don't think I can justify reading that one when I'm supposed to be reading books off my shelves.
Further Up and Further In
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