Happiness
No matter where you are right now, if you listen really hard, you can probably hear Gotye and Kimbra’s song Somebody That I Used To Know. Hell, you’ve probably been humming it all day. It’s as ubiquitous as the waft of cherry blossoms and has racked up 140,000 sales (double platinum!), 6 million views on YouTube and a legion of international twitter fans via Ashton Kutcher, Katy Perry and others with actual music taste.
It’s a very sad song making a lot of people very happy. So why has Gotye and Kimbra’s paean to pain resonated with music fans all over the world? It’s a tricky question but one I can answer for you, curious reader.
Partly, it’s about empowerment. A tight arrangement, catchy verses and soaring chorus can make you forget all about that person what dun you wrawwwng. But mostly it’s not about that at all. Mostly it’s about recognising – almost subliminally – that a sad song has more truth in it than a happy song.
Continue reading "Rolling in the deep: Why sad songs make us happy" »
Oprah Winfrey (depending on which figures you believe) has anywhere between 25 and 45 million people tuning in every week to watch her uplifting combination of positive thinking and self-acceptance.
This “Oprah Movement” love Oprah and they hang on her every word – if Oprah says Australia is a nice place then somewhere between 25 and 45 million people are going to believe it.
That is why Julia is so keen to be on the show and give Oprah a warm Prime Ministerial hug.
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simon says:
It’s funny that Brett expresses concern about American influence on Australia, but uses the American spelling of ‘summarise’ in the fifth paragraph… Read more »
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cRook says:
My mother bought The Secret. She thought it would help her get out of financial difficulty. Unfortunately, thinking positive thoughts did not stop her shopping, and she is now bankrupt. From another side, my ex told me that my only problem was that I was negative and all I had… Read more »
As we tumble towards the festive season, on the back of an interest rate hike, with a bleak Christmas predicted for both retailers and consumers, once again I find myself sinking into a Santa-induced depression.
I truly hate this time of year.
And once again I find myself seeking temporary relief from my woes in the pages of the self-help books hidden under my bed.
Continue reading "Me, my self-help and I - a Christmas lament" »
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TheJester says:
You know somethings got to be good once its been on Oprah, The Secret has to be the biggest load of crap self help book ever. “Thoughts become things” ? All you have to do is focus of what you want and the law of attraction will give it too… Read more »
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Steve Wilkinson says:
You can’t speak to me like that, Major - I’m sensitive. But I know how to deal with people like you [clutches japa beads and begins chanting] Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama… Read more »
(Update, Thursday): Ricky Ponting is at it again. The Australian captain is master of understating the negatives in a losing performance whilst always finding something good to say about his team. And today, here’s a headline from the Times of India - and OK, it is just a summary headline, but it encapsulates Ponting’s piercing analytical style.
For all his success as a batsman and captain the loss against India has seen the Aussies slide to an unconscionable fifth in the world rankings. Ponting’s leadership was publicly questioned during the game when Shane Warne tweeted: “How the hell can hauritz bowl to this field ?? Feeling for hauritz , terrible !! What are these tactics ? Sorry Ricky but what are you doing”. It’s not often this happens, but Warney was probably speaking for the whole country.
There’s more from Ponting here at Fox Sports. To be fair the skipper did say last night that the Australians have “got to be harsh on ourselves”. Though his preceding sentence was: “If I had’ve made 200 in the first innings, the result might have been different.” No kidding. The original column follows below.
Continue reading "Updated: Ricky Ponting’s little book of calm" »
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Redcap says:
Matt You must be from WA with a comment like that. I’m actually a proud Territorian so can claim complete independence (since Damien Martyn anyway, who was born in Darwin). Perhaps you could come up with some suggestions for the benefit of Australian cricket rather than resorting to petty state… Read more »
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saad says:
I dont understand why u people are only focusing on negetives. have u forgotton the last two worlds cup and other invincible wins in the whole of seasons. Ponting is a self actualized person the master of his soul and he is leading a stupid side. But the best is… Read more »
On the eve of his appearance at Sydney’s World Happiness Conference last week, Edward de Bono was asked what type of people he thought would attend the annual two-day series.
“I don’t know,” he replied. ‘‘I do know, however, that people are becoming more interested in happiness. Happiness as an industry is becoming more visible.”
A kind of warming observation on the surface, but dig a little deeper and I think you’ll also find that our “pursuit of happiness’ is beginning to resemble more of a crazed quest. But it won’t get us anywhere until we accept that feelings of sadness, bewilderment and loss are also a completely normal part of the full experience of life.
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DM says:
Peter - ah but when we laugh we feel happiness, it is fleeting but there and as no one can be truely happy all day everyday then it’s the little moments that count the most to quote a TV show “nothing we do matters, so all that matters is what… Read more »
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Luke says:
“community awareness” of depression is what is causing a decline in it? I think community ignoreance of it is what causes the decline… I think the more attention you give “bad feelings” the more they control you… Read more »
Does your new model six-cylinder car make you happier? What about that new in-home cinema, complete with HD-TV, surround sound, and reclining couches? You think so. How about the holiday you recently took with the family?
Unfortunately, as humans we are not that good at predicting, understanding, or acting in a way that makes us happy. This lack of knowledge is even more pronounced when it comes to the relationship between what we buy and how happy it makes us.
Have you even considered how happy various purchases you’ve made have actually made you?
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Warwick says:
I would agree that happiness, like everything, is only temporary, I would point out that, according to your argument, money will buy you happiness because it gives you choices to ‘get food’ therefore allowing your brain to release those ‘endorphins’ thereby making you feel happy… money is certainly one conduit… Read more »
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jo says:
money give you better health both in terms of better life style and better health care Read more »
Is it just me or is happiness starting to get unnecessarily complicated?
It feels like every time you turn around someone else has written a book that offers the key to what seems like one of the most confusing and elusive experiences since the dawn of time - being happy.
So what does anyone stand to gain from French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s proposal to bring the happiness phenomenon to public policy making?
Continue reading "The pursuit of state-sponsored happiness" »
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Ken says:
I’m sorry, but that’s a really poor article. It highlights one tiny aspect of the 300+ page report which it totally fails to put into context (e.g. the point was more to come up with better indicators of well-being than GDP). And the article’s title shows a fundamental misunderstanding of… Read more »
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Papachango says:
How exactly do you measure a ‘happiness index’? Do you survey lots of people and ask them how they’re feeling? Or do you measure the number of smiles on people’s faces with some sophisticated facial scanning technology on every street corner? It sounds nice and caring/sharing, but a government Happiness… Read more »
Last week we held a public event we call Sydney Conversations – a series of talks we host where, with the aid of a panel of speakers, we get to look closely at a topic that’s making the news, and get the news behind the news, so to speak.
Our Conversation was around the topic ‘How much is enough?’. The idea was to look at the link between money and happiness, or money and unhappiness as the case may be.
The Happiness Institute’s Tim Sharp talked about the sources of happiness: he said that having meaningful and purposeful pursuits is the path to happiness, coupled with the quality relationships we have in our lives. That happiness had nothing whatsoever to do with money.
Continue reading "Finding happiness in the middle of a crisis" »
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stephen says:
I think ‘happiness’ is a word like, say, ‘friendly’. Each meaning is opaque, in that some people are happy only when robbing banks, and friendly could just be the wink of an eye. Neither word is personal enough. Best, I think, to encourage the young to feel, say, optimism and… Read more »
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Eric says:
alan, you have obviously missed KRudd’s totalitarian attempt to censor the Internet. He’s a wannabe dictator, like Ahmadinejad of Iran. Read more »
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