happy – and so she thinks

Creative Writing – Happy Glorious Cranbrook

admin — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 15:12:43 +0000

On Wednesday 31st May, 7pm-9pm, head to the beautiful Happy Glorious on Cranbrook High Street, 47 High St, Cranbrook TN17 3EE.

£25 per person, or two for £35 – price includes a glass of wine/tea and coffee and nibbles. Get in touch with Kate to book.

Join us at this creative writing workshop for adults; a space in which to explore storytelling, learn new techniques, stimulate ideas, channel your creativity – and put some words on paper. Open to all levels and experience, the session will include exercises, prompts, activities and discussion to help get your imagination and pens flowing.

Happy: A Collection of Poetry and Prose on Happiness and Being Happy

admin — Sun, 05 Mar 2017 14:16:15 +0000

Three of my short stories have been published in HAPPY – A Collection of Poetry and Prose on Happiness and Being Happy, the fifth in the Collections of Poetry and Prose book series.

What makes people happy? What is happiness? Can happiness be found from people, places and things around us, or is it purely internal – a reflection and result of our own thoughts, feelings, attitude and mindset? Can we really be as happy as we want to be?

With many of the contributions reflecting the diverse backgrounds and cultures of the writers, in HAPPY there are 129 contributions from 60 writers in 21 countries: Antigua, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, England, France, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Puerto Rica, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Uganda, USA and Vietnam, all exploring themes of happiness and being happy.

HAPPY is a unique collection of poetry and short prose from some of the most talented and inspirational writers around the world. Compiled by Robin Barratt with… Aarati Salian, Abigail George, Alan Murphy, Amanda Earthwren, Andy Find, Barbara E Robinson, Bee Parkinson, Bernadette Perez, Bryan Ng Sze Cher, Clare Roslington, Clement Clark, Courtney Speedy, Cynthia Morrison, David Hollywood, David Watt, David Whitaker, Francesca Baker, Gayathri Viswanath, Grant M King, Heidi Al Khajah, Jenna Rainey, Jennifer Riggs, John Karl Stokes, John Tunaley , Kapardeli Eftichia, Kariuki Wa Nyamu, Kathleen Boyle, Kev Milsom, Kimmy Alan, Kirsty A Niven, Kritika Chawla, Lee Williams, Linda M Crate, LindaAnn Lo Schiavo, Lynette Cupido, Madhavi Tiwary, Madhumitha Murali, Maire Malone, Mandee C Harris, Manu Menard, Margaret Clifford, Martin Redfern, Michael Ihenacho, Michael Thwaites, Mimi Martin, Nilanjana Bose, Pamela Scott, Pat Smekal, Philip Kobylarz, Ray Ward, Rifat Najam, Rohini Sunderam, Rosie Mapplebeck, Ruth M Edwards, Sandra T Adeyeye, S’busiso Manqa, Sergio A Ortiz, S R Sullivan, Tracy Davidson and Zahra Zuhair.

Derren Brown – Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 13:18:36 +0000

Derren Brown’s job is to use psychology to convince. When he’s up there on stage and entertaining audiences, he guiding those in front of him to believe things – to tell themselves stories that may not be true. So he’s pretty well versed on how the brain works. You’d think we might be by now, having lived with our brains for…oh, all our lives. but the trouble is that they are clever things, and capable of fooling even themselves.

It’s why the diet industry, entrepreneurial get rich quick schemes and self help happiness field is so saturated with ‘solutions’ – that don’t work. You’d think that we would have figured by now that there’s something that the elusive ‘top 5 steps’ approach can’t be readily taught, or perhaps even achieved.

Derren Brown’s new book Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine is about stepping back from that. Finding a place of ‘good enough.’ Not the catchy title that usually grabs you in the book shop, but one that might help us to find, if not blissful nirvana, a state of contentment.

Because, most stuff is alright. And even when it’s not, those negative events themselves rarely hurt us; it is usually our beliefs, feelings, or judgments concerning those events which do. Instead, it’s the gap between our expectation and reality that is the source of unhappiness. If you lower your expectation, your contentment tends to increase. Does this mean giving up and not striving to be all that we can?

Far from it. He is scathing of books like The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, the 28 million copy bestseller that preaches the premise that the law of attraction is the key, and by thinking positive thoughts we will get all we need. The message that if you work and wish hard enough you’ll get what you want, and if you don’t, it’s your own fault, is one that he says is ‘toxic.’ And I agree.

One danger is the constant goal setting and planning that stops us being present. It’s very difficult to appreciate what you have, when you’re not really there, but ‘consistently orientated toward something that’s always on the horizon.’ Life just passes you by – and so of course you’re not satisfied with it.

But Brown isn’t coming up with anything particularly groundbreaking and radical here. He is heavily influenced by the Stoics, and quotes Seneca –‘ A man’s as miserable as he thinks he is’ – and Epictetus – ‘Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them’ – amongst others. There’s echoes of Stephen Covey’s sphere of influence idea from his classic The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and I’m reminded of The Serenity Prayer by American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) and it’s plea to God to ‘grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.’

The book is long, and there’s a rather lengthy few chapters on dying that could be trimmed down. But it’s a compelling and important message that deserves being repeated.The words we tell ourselves matter. Stories are powerful and create our worlds. Tell a better story, and accept that ‘The route to real happiness is about realising what you have now, rather than focusing on what could be.’ says Brown. It’s nothing new, but continues to be very true. When will we realise it?

Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine by Derren Brown is published by Random House. Available on Audible, narrated by Jot Davies.

The Happiness Project – it's a process

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 12:30:35 +0000

‘I don’t mind what you do with your life as long as you are happy, because that’s all that matters.’ How many kind hearted, liberal minded and gentle thinking parent shave said this to their children, and unwittingly triggered off an overwhelming sense of pressure even as they try so hard to reduce demands. Because, what on earth does this mean?
We live in a time where everything is quantified, tracked and tested – including our emotions. There are right ways to live, and wrong ones, data points and measurement tables, and so, it is safe to assume, that there must be some formula for happiness. At least that’s what Eden, the main character of The Happiness Project, is worrying about when we find her, sitting alone on a stage, reading the dictionary – fixated on the word happiness. All mum wants is for her to be happy, but she does not quite know how to get there.

Born out of a response to the 2007 UNICEF report An overview of child well-being in rich countries, which raised concern over young people’s wellbeing in the UK, The Happiness Project is an intergenerational piece of personal theatre devised by young people, scientists and academics to explore what happiness is. So we have a group of teenagers alongside professors and doctors slightly mocking self-help books and the rigid expectations we have around happiness, and the subsequent feelings of disappointment that result. Young people are facing greater than ever demands. Schoolwork increases, grades must be perfect, university for all, whilst jobs become more scarce and being able to move out of home almost impossible. And at the same time the expectation to be happy, and all the potential aspects of this – excited, enthusiastic, gleeful, smiling, successful, flourishing, achieving, positive, popular, healthy and euphoric – becomes such a weight that this fantasy weighs them down.
Questioning whether it is a commodity to be bought and sold, a scientific fact to be proven, a solution to be found, or something all together less concrete, the play uses personal life experiences and scientific research to try to find an solution. Where do we find it? In the bottom of shopping baskets, high grades, and winning teams? One resonant motif repeated throughout is an almost Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes demonstration of where in the body it can be felt. But even if we know where the emotion is felt in the body, that doesn’t provide the answer as to where we find the stimulus. What is happiness, and what makes us happy?

The answer they find is the one we all know. There is no secret; no magic key. Everyone’s formula is different – no formula actually exists. It’s a lovely piece, not slick or fancy, but the mumbling through braces and occasional nervous glances to others only adding to the authenticity and tenderness of it all. The creative team have the set spot on – a simple blackboard which becomes slowly filled with examples of what causes that feeling of happiness – long walks, mum’s shepherd’s pie, days under the duvet, my dog Rosie etc – and is a testimony to the changing and personal nature of happiness.
Happiness isn’t a project. It’s a state that when we’re in it we don’t even recognise, we don’t take the time to identify and analyse as happiness, because it feels such a natural state of flow to be in. It does not matter whether you believe that what we have commonly come to define as happiness is neurological activity, physiological sensations, social constructs or psychological narrative, there is no universal route or ultimate method to reaching it. Don’t come to The Happiness Project expecting to work through a well formed argument resulting in a grand conclusion. It’s not a thinking piece, but a feeling one. We leave reminded that it’s in the simple moments that the warm, fuzzy and comforting sensation of happiness can be felt. Like the last seventy minutes.
The Happiness Project is produced by the Roundhouse in collaboration with Glas(s) Performance and Emma Higham, and runs from 3^rd – 14^th November.
Photographer credit: Jack Sain

Happyologist Susanna Halonen on 'finding' your passion

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 21:40:34 +0000

Everyone is seeking an answer. Looking around for that clue as to what to with our lives and how this will make us happy. But ‘Happyologist’ Susanna Halonen, like many others, wants to remind us that happiness is not to be found outside but within us – it’s just a case of unlocking it. Screw Finding Your Passion is about relinquishing the idea that your path in life and your career choice is about finding the one thing you are good at, and instead suggesting that a happy life comes from knowing and using your passion, the passion being ‘positive energy that sits inside you.’ Passion comes from your values, is a motivation, an energising force, the thing that thrills you, makes you feel whole, is important to you, enjoyable and feels worthwhile.
As a happyologist (described as coaching clients to become the ‘happiest, most fulfilled, best performing’ versions of themselves) her work is in the framework of positive psychology, first identified by Martin Seligman and focusing on the idea that mental health should be approached from the perspective of wellbeing and what works well in life, rather than what does not.
Writing from her own experiences of the corporate life and love for horse dressage, as well as case studies and comments from her clients, Halonen’s approach is warm and clear. She herself discovered positive psychology through Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage and subsequently decided to study a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology. There’s enough exercises and activities included to make it applicable to your life, but not too many that it feels like a textbook.
Kicking off with an explanation of why passion is important, and concluding with applying the learnings to career choice, the core of the book and the most important part is about unlocking your passion – the ‘passion keys’ as Halonen calls them. These includes identifying the authentic you and working from your own values, finding your why and looking not only at what you do but the reasons behind it, mastering the art of learning and embracing a growth mindset, connecting with your tribe and finding energy and support from other people, and playing with your strengths by incorporating them in everyday life. Learning to use these five keys creates what she calls ‘a self-sustaining passion spiral’ in your life and throughout your activities. The more your life according to your passion, the more natural it becomes, and the more it reinforces itself.
Passion isn’t a career choice. It’s not a hobby, or one activity. There’s no point searching for it externally. It’s not what you do, but how you do it. And it’s so important. As this book explains, ‘A life without passion is not a life fully lived. A life without passion is a life without colour.’

Kickstarter – Recipes for Recovery

admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 15:42:00 +0000

Recipes for Recovery
I’m producing a small recipe book to raise money for BEAT, the UK’s leading charity for support for recovery from eating disorders. Conversations and experiences with therapists, professionals and those suffering and recovering from the illnesses, have taught me that learning to love and connect with food again is a huge step on the path to a normal relationship with food.
I am therefore asking people to share simple, tasty recipes that matter to them. For example, something your grandmother used to make, a dish that reminds you of a holiday, or your default choice for a lazy Sunday evening. Each recipe page will have the ingredients, method, and a short story behind the dish and why the contributor chose it.
BEAT have approved the project. The booklet will be sold for a small donation, and all funds will go to the charity. I’m asking for your support through the recipes you love, the books you buy and the awareness that you are able to raise.
Check out Kickstarter below or get in touch for more information!

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home

admin — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:00:28 +0000

So, being the procrastinating human being I am, this review is like 8 months late. Oops.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4306i99LMXo]
So gonna start off by saying, this song is absolutely brilliant. As is the video, this whole collection of what looks like home videos, featuring guitars, sunshine, the beach, lovely things like that.
Then you’ve got this cute, ‘homey’, happy-go-lucky vibe to it. With all the whistling and reminders of the best things at home. The song describes that, yeah, home is great, and that when we get home, we love it and we’re happy so this relationship between the boy and girl, means that whenever they’re around each other, they’re happy and safe, like we are ourselves, at home.
I feel like this is a really summery song, and its not just the fact I’ve been playing this full volume in my garden… and annoying the neighbours.
SO GO AND LISTEN TO IT IF YOU’RE COOL OK. Joke, you’re on It’s All Happening, you’re already cool.

My Tiger My Timing – Endless Summer

admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 20:02:28 +0000

Aug 1st 2011

Francesca Baker

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttfIcU6OnTo]With lyrics that seem as though they’ve came straight from a Mungo Jerry hit (‘all I want is endless summer’; ‘school is out’ and ‘hold a beer cos you wanna have fun’) Endless Summer doesn’t disguise behind the fact that, quite frankly, at this time of year a summer themed song sells. However, the Vitamin D is more palatably delivered than
via any pill, and the calypso beats recreate the saccherin sweet pulse of summer. The eighties synths fail to seem original, instead suggesting a foot stuck in last year, the groove potentially seen through too much of a 2010 rehash trend lens. For such a happy song, it’s alright.