Can you write a book about happiness habits if you're not always happy?
So I'm not always the world's most cheerful, sunny, happy little Vegemite.
(NB: my dear readers who are non-Australians, to understand the above reference, you may need to see the below clip, which is an iconic Australian ad for the most iconic Australian food of all - the salt-laden, axle-grease-looking Vegemite. It is guaranteed to make all those not from our sunny shores head to the nearest bathroom, yet devoured with gusto by all who are truly Aussie-patriotic. Best had with layers of butter, on lightly browned toast. And Marmite or the other 'mites' are in no way substitutions. The marketers succeeded so well with this ad that the phrase 'happy little Vegemite' is bandied around by Australians almost as often as Vegemite is eaten by us. But I digress.)
The point is: can someone who isn't always super happy dare to write a book about happiness?
Good question, and my varying answers have been the reason for my alternately stopping and starting, venturing and casting off of my latest project - a 'happiness habits' journal for girls.
The project has been close to my heart for a long time. I've seen so many unhappy women, and talked to lots of unhappy girls. "If only they could..." I've thought to myself again and again. If only they had learned to get perspective, or to hang out with different people, or to be grateful.
But then I feel like a hypocrite. How can I write a book about happiness habits when I have spent (and still spend) a reasonable amount of my time wallowing in self pity on my bed? And maybe I've got it all wrong anyway. Maybe this is just a book about 'how to be Cecily'. I'm not sure.
The thing is, I do know that the habits work - if I do them. Perhaps the next book will have to be: how to actually put the happiness habits into practice. (Or - STOP PROCRASTINATING AND PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVING, YOU SILLY RABBIT. BUTT INTO GEAR, 'KAY?)
In the end, there's only one way to find out if this project is going to fly, or if it's gonna come crashing down and splat mud, rather than Vegemite everywhere, and that is to take the risk and try. So I'm sending it out to test readers right now. Teenage girls, and anyone with a parental/teacherly type interest in teenage girls, in particular, but actually, I'll take anyone who's interested. If you think you'd like to be a tester and give some feedback, and it's within a week of publication of this blog post, let me know through the contact section of this website and I'll send you a copy.
What's your never-fail recipe for making an unhappy day into a happy one?