Happiness

If only I weren't petrified about running out of money, I could really enjoy this jobless situation. There is so much I want to learn, explore, read, do... Without the pressures of a job, I have a great sense of freedom and that wonderful "new beginnings" feeling. It's a lot like the New Year. I have all these goals and things I want to do every day!

One of those things is to take a photo and blog about something that makes me smile every day. It looks like Gretchen Rubin from The Happiness Project had the same idea. Lots of great stuff on her blog. What's this got to do with social media? Well... for one thing, there's even a social network for Happiness! Check out Gretchen's FaceBook Fan Page for the Happiness Project. For another, I think the reason social media is so popular is due to the happiness we feel from using it. As the slideshare presentation, Happiness as Your Business Model points out, four things that cause us happiness are:

Autonomy - Social Media gives us the ability to have a voice
Competence - Social Media allows us to demonstrate and share competencies
Relatedness - Social Media allows us to build communities
Self -Esteem - Social Media allows for increased self-esteem when we receive positive feedback

I've been consciously taking a photo of something that makes me smile every day since I've been laid off. It's hard to pick just one photo to represent the day. I've been smiling a lot!


Friday, June 26 - Wildflowers in magnificent shades of blue while running along the Boulder Creek

Saturday, June 27 - Watching my VERY pregnant daughter play Guesstures (a charades kind of game) at my son-in-law's birthday celebration.

Sunday, June 28 - Seeing some little kids taking a a turtle for a walk on a pink leash.

Monday, June 29 - Dancing, singing and playing Guitar Hero with my friend, Ravi

What made you happy today?