I had a lot to smile about this week.  Last night friends I hadn’t seen in a while invited me to an impromptu get together.  Saturday I saw a good movie about Vincent Van Gogh, At Eternities Gate (William Dafoe is excellent as Vincent).  Friday afternoon I shut off my work computer to start a week off.  Thursday I solved a work emergency.  Wednesday I ran out for the last Christmas gift.  Tuesday I talked to some friends I haven’t seen in a while.  And Monday there was an even worse work emergency to work through an solve.  And there were so many more things.  Finishing a draft of my next book and beginning to format it.  Doing the cover illustration.  Talking to friends and family.  Playing with the dogs.  Exercising.  Good food.  Etc., etc.

I read an article during the week on the BBC website.  One of the big points about it was that people who seek to be happy are often less happy than those who don’t.  This is not that people who are less happy seek it out.  There have been many studies showing that the act of trying to be happy makes people less happy.  It is not talking about people trying to pull themselves out of depression or someone recovering from a terrible experience.  This is normal people.  Continue reading →