Are you happy now?

A week ago, as I was chasing the baby around the library, The Geography of Bliss jumped off the shelf into my arms. Not literally of course. That would be the baby jumping down the stairs for "clap hands" time (story hour). But the subtitle of the book intrigued me: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World. I immediately connected because (A) I am a grump. (B) I thought that perhaps there was something to this and I should start looking at real estate online.

Eric Weiner traveled first to the Netherlands on this search for happiness and searched through the World Happiness Database (WDH). From that information and his own intuition, he planned an itinerary that included Switzerland, Bhutan, Qatar, Iceland, Moldova (for unhappiness), Thailand, Great Britain, India, and the USA. At times profound, at times profane, and at most times hilarious, he provides a window into the things that make people happy. From the WDH, he learned that happy people are most likely to be:

• extroverted
• optimistic
• married
• Republican
• religious
• college graduates (but people with advanced degrees are not as happy)
• active sexually
• busy
• wealthy (but only marginally happier than poor people)

From his travels, he learned that this was only part of the equation. Largely homogeneous societies like Iceland and Switzerland are happy, but so are the racially diverse, less uptight people in the Netherlands. Marginally happy Qatar has plenty of money, but no defining culture. Extremely unhappy Moldova has hardly any money and no culture. Thais regard over-thinking as suspicious and tend to be very happy. Bhutan measures its Gross National Happiness with statistics.

I found much to contemplate in this book. For as long as I've lived in Montana, I've never really felt at home. I've wondered if moving somewhere else would make me happier. What Weiner learned, and I felt was true also, was that there are some things more important than happiness. If you're religious, then pleasing God would mean more than your own happiness. The Guri-ji whose ashram he attended in India told him that love is more important than happiness. And a man from Bhutan told him that "Happiness is one hundred percent relational." Having close relationships (and a good book) means more than the particular address where I live. No matter where I go, friends and family will support me more than the earth's crust. This reminds me of a verse from 1 Corinthians 13: "So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love" (The Message). There. I just saved you a trip around the world and a call to a realtor. You can thank me later. (PG-13, recommended)