Can you be too Happy?

Our American forefathers thought the pursuit of happiness was a basic right.  And Americans are enthusiastically, if not somewhat desperately, continuing to pursue happiness.  In fact, pursuing happiness has become big business, including motivational, "how to do it" speakers who come  in many forms and prices.

Do you appreciate being around happy people, or does that bouncy happiness become annoying?  Research often finds many conflicting results.  So, too, about turning happiness into a negative "too happy."  The May 2011 issue of "Perspectives on Psychological Science" has an article by an assistant professor of psychology at Yale that notes a study that followed children from the 1920s into old age.  "It found that those who had died younger had been rated by their teachers as highly cheerful."  But there are other studies that show that staying optimistic results in less heart disease in old age.
A University of Illinois research team analyzed several studies including data on 16,000 people world-wide.  Their finding -- "student-age individuals who rated their satisfaction with life as a five out of five were more likely to drop out of school and had lower incomes than those who weren't so happy and satisfied relatively early in life."  A follow-up study at a later age showed that the cheerful group were earning less money.  Feeling happy prevents the dissatisfaction that pushes people out of their present circumstances.
And some research indicates creativity is negatively correlated with happiness.  A variety of emotions hones a keener mind, and tough times in life add flavor and depth to the work of artists and writers.  Certainly many of our greatest artists and writers have been tortured souls.
Dr. Andrew Weil, an integrative doctor who looks at physical and emotional health from a variety of viewpoints, speaks of inner contentment coming from a harmonious balance within us.  While he feels happiness is too easily equated in our society with gaining more of something material, he refers to a Swedish word, "lagom," as expressing the concept more exactly.  In English, it approximates "just right, enough."   It is being in a continuing state of  "positive emotionality."
I don't know if the emotion of happiness or contentment itself generally feels the same within humans, but what makes us happy has fascinating variations in our species.   While some find it in personal relationships, others must climb mountains to achieve it, or overcome danger in many forms.  In the movie, "Chasing Mavericks," surfing through mountainous waves triggered really feeling alive for surfer Jay Moriarty.  In real  life, he died at the tender age of 22 while doing free diving beyond his endurance.  Such people are at an extreme, and perhaps feel happiness at a deeper depth.  Or, perhaps they keep searching for more fulfillment because they never quite reach "just enough."
I have not thought of happiness as something that can be purposely pursued or found.  Rather, it is a byproduct of what's going on in my life.  By being mindful of my personal sense of  balance and harmony, I can find myself in a state of "just right."

Suellen Zima, Member of www.NLAPW.org
Visit http://www.zimatravels.com and Follow the Senior Hummingbird as she wanders, wonders, and writes.

The Bunny Whisperer

Marilyn Mansdorf  holds the honorable title of  "the bunny whisperer."   I met her a couple of years ago because she is an author.  You get to meet a lot of interesting people when you're an author.  She had written a children's book, "Bunny's Busy Day," and used photos that showed wild cottontails coming over to her house to play.  In fact, after they started coming to her house 7 years ago, she began to buy little toys for them to enjoy.  And they have come regularly ever since, bringing along relatives and the younger generation.
     Technology is a double-edged sword.  It can be extremely helpful in becoming known if you know how to network and use it properly.  On the other hand, the photos could have been photo-shopped.  Even though she wrote that they were very wild cottontails and in no way trained or enticed, how to prove it?  Before taking pictures digitally, she had taken hundreds of photos with the negatives to prove that they were not altered in any way.  But how to get someone to really listen to her that these were WILD cottontails?
     Being an author myself who is constantly frustrated by not being able to attract much attention, I understood her frustration.  While I wanted very much for people to understand through my book, "Memoirs of a Middle-aged Hummingbird," China's emergence  into stardom over the last two decades beyond anyone's expectations,  Marilyn was on a mission to teach young children tolerance and respect for the little wildness still left in our world.  Along the way, she had some encouraging false starts, but they faded away.  She kept asking herself, and me, "Why doesn't anyone care?'
     Marilyn has always been attracted to animals, and they to her.  She can't explain the last 7 years of these wild bunnies continuing to visit her without fear.  But telling other people about it became her passion.  With one book self-published, four books are awaiting publication until she knows how to reach markets for them.
   Although lacking skills in computer technology, Marilyn has an abundance of energy and passion to cultivate an audience that cares about the bunnies and their continuing desire to have a human friend.  Some friends helped get her website started at bunnybooksinc.com.  And recently, a beautiful article with many pictures appeared in the Orange County Register by Pat Brennan, Science and Environment Reporter.  He doesn't understand either why the rabbits come to visit her, but he believes her bunny friends and her mission is newsworthy.   The article is reprinted on her website.
     In the mission statement on her website, Marilyn hopes "that introducing children at a very early age to the mutual kindness depicted in my stories will help them grow up to be happy tolerant adults. My love of nature and photography has melded into a mission to educate us all on how to do the same. I have managed to capture on film the ultimate example of humans living in harmony with nature." Well said, Marilyn, and very well done.

Suellen Zima