"To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition,
the end to which every enterprise and labour tends,
and of which every desire prompts the prosecution."
Johnson: Rambler #68 (November 10, 1750)
I wrote my thoughts on this book yesterday in a freewrite, but in case you do not read them (who would?), this is what I said:
I am listening to this book called Happier at Home by a woman who apparently wrote another book called The Happiness Project. I only came upon it because I was looking for a book by Samuel Johnson in my library, and since she read Samuel Johnson and has it as part of her subtitle, this book popped up.
I am reading the sequel, but it is speaking to me. Mostly confirming what I have already discovered on my own. I think this lady and I are a lot alike. So, that is fun.
She was just talking about routines as I was making my chai tea which is one of my routines! I make it and usually listen to a book as I make it. Then I sit down to write for the whole morning (with a walk around the block for inspiration and back relief). I am not usually a "routine" kind of gal, but she said that is important, and I am glad that I am doing something important.I really, really liked this book. As you might notice, I have read two "memoirs" in a row. I like women's memoirs quite a bit. It is not my "Happiness Project," but as she says in the preface to her first book (that I am now reading but cannot listen to because my library doesn't have it on audio - boohoo):
During my study of happiness, I noticed something that surprised me: I often learn more from one person's highly idiosyncratic experiences than I do from sources that detail universal principles or cite up-to-date studies. I find greater value in what specific individuals tell me worked for them than in any other kind of argument -- and that's true even when we seem to have nothing in common. In my case, for example, I would never have supposed that a witty lexicographer with Tourette's syndrome, a twenty-something tubercular saint a hypocritical Russian novelist, and one of the Founding Fathers would be my most helpful guides -- but so it happened.
That "witty lexicographer with Tourette's syndrome" is Samuel Johnson and the whole reason I read this book in the first place. This book is poignant and insightful in all the right places. She and I are so much alike. I am an under-buyer, (A favorite quote from both my husband and best friend is, "Carol, you can afford this.") decorator hater, and lover of Johnson too. While I am not afraid of it, I HATE to drive! :)
There is so much to love about this book. I will stop.
2 comments:
Carol, I left a comment on your blog earlier today (because Adriana said to, ha ha), but then I happened to see this post too. I'm reading the same book right now. I stumbled upon it in the library and it seemed appealing so I took it out. I've read some of Gretchen Rubin's articles in (I think?) Good Housekeeping though I've never read The Happiness Project. I'm really enjoying the book; her ideas are so individual and yet there are many broader timeless principles. I'll have to read her other book next.
I am glad you "obeyed" Adriana! LOL! I was surprised at how much I enjoyed her book. My really relaxed 30 something single guy friend said it was "Type A Crack"! I got the impression he did not like the idea of having to set goals or anything. I just loved hearing her story. I started the Happiness Project, and it is very similar and a bit more redundant. Not sure I will finish it because of that. I agree about the "broader timeless principles"!
Post a Comment