Gretchen Rubin – Personal Paths to Happiness – The Happiness Project

June 26, 2011 0 Comments

The Happiness Project is the memoir of the year Gretchen spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier – happily, it was a #1 New York Times bestseller. As one of the hundreds of experiments she conducted, sheI started a blog. Where she recounts daily adventures in pursuit of happiness.

A few years ago, I had an epiphany on the cross-town bus. I asked myself, “What do I want from life, anyway?” and I thought, “I want to be happy”—but I never spent any time thinking about happiness. “I should do a happiness project!” I realized. And so I have.

My happiness project has convinced me that it’s possible to be happier by taking small, concrete steps in your daily life. In my book and on my daily blog, I write about what I’ve learned as I’ve test-driven the wisdom of the ages, the current scientific studies, and the lessons from popular culture. Plutarch, Samuel Johnson, Benjamin Franklin, St. Thérèse, the Dalai Lama, Oprah, Martin Seligman…I cover it all.

Every Wednesday, I post a list of tips about how to be happier; every Friday, I propose a resolution for your happiness project; every Sunday, I post a quotation to get you thinking more deeply about happiness. Throughout the week, I write about my adventures as I work to be happier.

More than 55,000 people have signed up to get my free monthly newsletter, which features highlights from the blog and Facebook Page, and more than 20,000 get the Moment of Happiness, a daily email with a happiness quotation. I’m also a columnist for Good Housekeeping. I feel lucky to be connected in so many ways to people who share my interest in happiness.

I’m a bestselling writer who has published four books and written three unpublished novels—which are safely locked in a drawer. Before turning to writing, I started out in law. At Yale Law School, I was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal, and I was clerking for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor when I realized that I really wanted to be a writer.

Raised in Kansas City, I live in New York City with my husband and two young daughters. My only hobbies are reading and writing—and helping other people to clean out their closets. I’m left-handed, hopeless at sports, tone-deaf, a constant hair-twister, and afraid to drive. I talk to my parents and my sister all the time, and I live around the corner from my in-laws.

Here’s how you can connect with me: