What Brings You Joy? • The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: December 29, 2009
Source/Format: Bought || Paperback

Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. "The days are long, but the years are short," she realized. "Time is passing, and I'm not focusing enough on the things that really matter." In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.

In this lively and compelling account of that year, Rubin carves out her place alongside the authors of bestselling memoirs such as Julie and Julia, The Year of Living Biblically, and Eat, Pray, Love. With humor and insight, she chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier.

Honestly, I love reading books that tell of the author's own personal journey of growth, which is why I was a huge fan of Eat, Pray, Love. Though I consider the fictional worlds I delve into as real worlds, it is always refreshing and a nice change to read about actual people and their journeys (though I know that it's usually cleaned up and summarized into a nice little package, which is a far cry from the actual experience). This factor alone guaranteed that The Happiness Project was just my cup of tea.

The book talks about the author's journey as she attempts to live a happier life. Though you can't quantify happiness, as you take the journey along with Gretchen, you can sense how her sense of peace and happiness grow until she reaches the last stages of the journey she's chronicled. It was a pleasure to read about her adventures and her experiments, to see what worked and what didn't. Though I wouldn't necessarily embrace all of her tips (as some might not apply to me), I thought they were useful in inspiring me to make my own list of tips and goals.

The Happiness Project is inspiring, quirky and very personal. Gretchen's voice is strong and confident, and she's not afraid to reveal both the good and the bad things she went through for the duration of her happiness project. After reading it, I am definitely inspired to tackle my own version of The Happiness Project and work to make my life happier too!