I remember when I was in high school, a teacher was going around asking what we wanted to be when we grew up. I didn’t know what I wanted to be at that moment, but I do remember telling her that I wanted to be happy. She kept pressing me for a more substantial answer because apparently, saying that you want to be happy wasn’t quite enough of a goal in life. What sort of happiness? What makes you happy? What do you think will bring you happiness?
Those were tough questions to ponder over (especially for a teenager!) but I wasn’t the least perturbed. I knew that being happy was my goal and I had no illusions of grandeur about what was supposed to make me happy. I knew then that though the details would be fuzzy, but at least I knew what I wanted things to feel like when I got there.
So when I came across Laura Javier’s book Elements of Happiness, I stopped for a moment and remember what I said years before. The book, (you can read the full PDF here) is based on The Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest prospective study of mental and physical well-being ever conducted.
From Laura’s website:
For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been following 824 individuals through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age. In this book, I’ve taken 10 representative case studies and visualized their salient character traits, personal timeline, social supports, and physical health to draw conclusions about “the happy life.”
I’m still reading the PDF and though I’m just halfway there, I’m in love with it. I love the study, the case studies and Laura’s design and concepts for the project. There’s too much for me to gush over, but if you love a peek into the minds and choices these people have made (and reading about how it affected their paths), then have a look at Elements of Happiness.
{Found via One Syndey Road }
