Shared by DeniseM
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I saw Rainn Wilson (Dwight from The Office) in an interview about his latest project, “The Geography of Bliss,” a documentary series on the Peacock network. He intrigued me with his book description and how it was adapted to become this docuseries. I don’t have the Peacock Network, so I decided to buy the book, but if you have Peacock, definitely check it out!
The search for happiness is something that you would think everyone would be searching for or want to search for. The book and docuseries touch on why there are happier places than others and why that is. Why is Iceland happier than Moldova?
The book‘s author, a self-described grumpy, unhappy person, travels the world for a year in search of the elusive happiness that he longs for, but he does it in a comical and witty way with lots of quirky anecdotes about all the places he visits. He travels to several countries, talks to the people living in each country, and hopes to learn their secret for happiness or, in some places, not so happy. He participates in some of the different countries' cultural activities to determine why they are so happy.
He first travels to the Netherlands, which ranks very high on the happiness scale. The word “high” is the operative word here as he hesitantly partakes in the drug culture that is very prevalent there. It was quite comical! He travels to other countries such as Iceland, Bhutan, Switzerland, and Qatar. Bhutan even measures its happiness through a Gross National Happiness Index! I wonder what would happen if we did that in the U.S.? He even traveled to Moldova, which was listed as one of the most unhappy places to live.
Weiner constantly challenges the most commonly held beliefs of what constitutes happiness with alternative concepts of happiness. He does this in such a quirky, funny way too. It was fascinating to read about all his interactions with such a wide variety of cultures.
He also talks with researchers who study happiness! I never knew people specialized in studying happiness or misery or the relation of geography to happiness or misery. It seems like happiness is all about connection. The connection we have with all the people that surround us.
This book was a very enjoyable travel guide and a glimpse of happiness through the engaging storytelling of Eric Weiner. I enjoyed this book very much, and it did give me pause to consider my own level of happiness and what I think it means, and whether it is influenced by where I live. Did Eric Weiner find the happiness he was looking for? You have to read the book to find out! 😊
I listened to the book on Audible, which I really enjoyed because Eric Weiner narrates the book himself, and that made it an even more personal experience!
Audible has changed my life. I “read” so many more books because I can listen and do other things at the same time. Audible has the world’s largest audio book collection, including children’s books to help instill a love of reading. Try for 30 days at no cost and get up to two books for free!
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