13 Oct Why I find happiness in fiction and music
I was thinking, as I frequently do, about happiness and especially about how and why I frequently find myself experiencing happiness and other positive emotions when I’m reading a good novel (as I am at the moment) and when I’m listening to some of my favourite music (as I’ve been doing a lot of lately).
And it didn’t take me long to understand the reasons why…because when I’m engaged in one or both of those activities I’m totally “in the present moment”. When a great novel takes me away to some fictional context and when I’m following some imaginary character through his/her adventures I think of nothing else (much to my family’s dismay at times!).
Similarly, when a much loved album is playing away and I’m totally engaged in the lyrics and melody all else seems to fade away leaving me focused on nothing but the here and now.
I should qualify this by noting that reading and music listening may not be the top choices for all of you when it comes to creating happiness and living a good life but I bet there are other activities and tasks, hobbies and pasttimes during which your mind things not of the past nor of the future but purely and simply of this one very moment. Because if you can discover what it is you’re doing when you experience that wonderful state of flow and mindfulness, and if you can then find ways to bring more of this into your lives then the consequences are pretty clear and pretty simple…
…you’ll experience and enjoy more happiness!
Let us know what you do to live in and enjoy the moment. Share your happiness moments with all of us on our Facebook page (here).