Cuz It Makes Me Happy

The pursuit of happiness. We all strive for that perfect, utopia otherwise known as Happy. But, what is it and is it truly attainable? And, when we have it, do we really know it? This topic was the recent focus of an article in Fast Company magazine. Apparently business schools and corporations are jumping on the happiness bandwagon in a big way. Among other tidbits of wisdom, the article claims that "marketing happiness could be one of the few ways businesses can still appeal to people in a manner that feels authentic."

The Corporate Pursuit of Happiness

I am intrigued. Could happiness be the last bastion of white space territory that business has yet to fully co-opt? Or, when it comes right down to it, has happiness always been at the heart of every marketing plan and ad campaign? Aren't we all trying to get a little sliver of happiness and aren't companies looking for ways to give it to us (for a price)?

Either way, I liked the research highlighted in the article. For the next 30 days, I'm going to take 1 photograph each day of something that makes me happy. I will rate my level of happiness on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being only slightly happy and 10 being over-the-top, giddy with happiness. I will post these each day on this blog. At the end of this experiment, who knows what patterns and insights I might find. It might tell me far more about my own understanding and relationship to happiness than I could ever imagine. Whoa. Scary.

Here is my first happiness photo:

My morning coffee treat. It makes me happy. On a scale from 1 to 10, I would have to rate this a solid 3. I look forward to it each day. I'm not going to lie. It cheers me up.