Don’t worry, be happy

This week I watched a documentary on Netflix that is in line with my thinking of late. Happy, directed by Roko Belic, illustrates the nature of happiness across the globe.

A few highlights:

People in general think that good or bad major events (getting married, losing a job) are far more important than they really are when it comes to overall happiness. In reality, the highs from these don’t last very long and neither do the lows.

Flow, or being “in the zone” is an important part of happiness. This can be achieved through exercise, sports, or even everyday tasks like gardening or cooking.

Acts of kindness and compassion, even if minor, make us happy.

The part of happiness that is determined by the circumstance of life (job, money, house, relationship) is a mere 10%. The rest is genetic (50%) and habit based (40%).

Shortsighted

This morning I read an article on Ars Technica about something called “revenge porn.” Essentially it’s when someone posts nude or erotic photos of a former girlfriend (or boyfriend, though this is less common) on sites designed for this purpose. Amazingly, they also often post the name of their ex and sometimes even phone numbers and email addresses.

So what is the matter with these people? This is a ridiculously classless move. If you’re not going to delete such photos upon breaking up it’s the least you can do to keep them as secure as possible. Sharing them online should certainly dissuade other women from dating such men. Perhaps someone needs to create a site where women post the names of men who post the photos and names of women (or even better, people could be less bitter and not post in the first place).

I would think these types of sites would dissuade the fairer sex from sending or posing for such photos, though apparently this isnt the case as it’s alarmingly common amongst young people these days (from what I hear). My generation seems to be wise enough to avoid this trend for the most part (swimming pics don’t count).

Finding Clairity

 

My friend Clair had a brilliant idea that I’d like to share with the hope that it catches on. Check it out on her blog here. Okay Clair, now that you’ve fixed engagements it’s time for you to tackle Valentine’s Day…

I’ve been craving more new music lately after being exposed to Gotye and Kimbra. Today I came across this easy to navigate Amazon top 100 of 2012 and listened to each preview and purchased the ones I thought were interesting. Here’s what I chose:

Ho Hey by The Lumineers
Thrift Shop (feat. Wanz) [Explicit] by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Myth by Beach House
Little Talks by Of Monsters And Men
Till Death by Barcelona
It’s Time by Imagine Dragons
Counting by Autre Ne Veut
Adorn by Miguel
Radioactive by Imagine Dragons
Sleep by Allen Stone
Fineshrine by Purity Ring
Poppin’ Off [Explicit] by Watch the Duck
Lost In The Light by Bahamas
Tessellate by alt-J
Faithful Man by The Expressions Lee Fields
Madness by Muse
I Won’t Give Up by Jason Mraz
Begin Again by Taylor Swift
Let Her Go by Passenger
Henrietta by Yeasayer
Writer’s Block [Explicit] by Brother Ali

It’s an eclectic mix, and I’m curious how many of them I’ll like enough to listen to repeatedly. I might go through the Top 100 Selling Songs list too after I’m done with these, but I suspect I won’t like as many in that list.

Cryptic Citrus

It’s been an interesting week. My bucket list post has influenced me a bit more than I expected and helped me focus on productivity. While I haven’t actually competed any of those 10 items, I’ve made good progress on a few that didn’t quite make the cut. I seem to have an unofficial 2013 list that I suppose I should organize (#1 will be organizing the list). In addition to these things (some of which are inspired by a fascinating book I’m reading), I’ve also done a couple of things I’ve never done before, and I’ve made two big discoveries that have impacted my life significantly… Evernote and the power of lemons. Yes, lemons.

 

 

Pail Punting Preliminaries

I finally got around to watching The Bucket List the other night and enjoyed it (could Morgan Freeman possibly be more likable?) and like every other soul who watched that movie got to thinking about my own such list. I’d never written anything like this down before so I was curious to see if I could quickly list 10 things worthy of inclusion. That’s a long bucket list, I know, but I figure I have plenty of time (hopefully) to get them all done. So here’s my list (subject to change as I consider in more depth over the coming days/weeks/years/decades):

Tony’s Provisional Bucket List

1. Learn to speak another language proficiently (not Klingon)
2. Spend a significant block of time overseas living as a local (goes with #1)
3. Learn to play the guitar reasonably well (simple songs) and sing on key
4. Learn enough construction skills to renovate a house
5. Write a book good (lucky?) enough to be published
6. Take or audit at least one philosophy class
7. Learn to board surf
8. Design and build a house or building of some kind
9. Take a bar tending class and/or a cooking class
10. Learn to sail at an intermediate level

Feel free to share a list (or a partial list) in the comments section. Don’t be shy – life is short, after all.