The Happiness Secrets You Keep Forgetting
Most of the mystery about feeling good isn't that much of a mystery. Columnist Leigh Newman gives us a quick refresher.
Original Content | November 01, 2012
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A 6-year-old girl will think nothing of putting on a purple princess dress (or a flaming-black Batgirl cape) and sauntering out for a walk in the neighborhood. Why? Because ballroom and superheroine garb is uplifting: You're not having to be somebody else (Joy Number 1); you're being yourself, only fancier and all-mighty (Joy Number 2). Consider donning an evening gown while you vacuum the basement on Saturday or—my favorite—on date night. Strolling into the neighborhood burger joint after watching the one movie that wasn't sold out at the multiplex (which is the only kind of date night I've ever experienced, one with zero planning) wearing a ruffled silk floor-length number adds the kind of festive, inappropriate glamour that makes you feel like one of those over-the-top desserts on the menu. Yes, nobody needs flaming bananas on ice cream. Then again, fun has never been about need or requirements, has it? |
