HOW TO BE HAPPY
According to communities around the world
For a while it was all about hygge, but the Danes have more to teach us about happiness than snuggling under a blanket and sipping some hot cocoa – as do the Finns, the Italians and the Swedes… just about everyone in the world. In her new book, The Atlas of Happiness, Helen Russell travels the globe looking at different nations and their approach to seeking joy and fulfilment.
‘It’s easy to watch rolling news and get the idea that the world is getting more miserable by the minute,’ writes Helen Russell in the foreword to her book, The
Atlas of Happiness. But statistically, we are better off than previous generations: in the past 25 years alone, world hunger, child mortality and extreme poverty have all declined dramatically. It may seem as if we are living in bleak times, ‘If we feel hopeless all the time, if we’re always in crisis, the natural response is to give up and stop trying altogether. But we can’t let snark win.’ but it’s important to remember that the good stuff doesn’t usually get the same media attention as the bad. As humans, we’re also vulnerable to something called negativity bias – which means that ‘bad’ events stand out more in our minds than ‘good’ ones. To remain hopeful and feel content, we need to really focus on the good.
‘Optimism isn’t frivolous: it’s necessary,’ says Helen. ‘If we feel hopeless all the time, if we’re always in crisis, the natural response is to give up and stop trying altogether. But we can’t let snark win.’
With this mission in mind, Helen decided to look at different countries around the world to learn about their unique approaches to seeking happiness. And she didn’t just consult the famously happy Scandinavians. ‘There are people all around the world finding happiness every day, both in countries that top the global happiness surveys and those that don’t. By learning about them we can find more ways to be happy ourselves and help each other.’