Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon Self-Control, and My Other Experiments in Everyday Life

If I want my marriage to be tender and romantic, I must be tender and romantic.

When I acknowledged my true likes and dislikes, instead of being distracted by what I wished I liked or thought I ought to like, I started a children’s literature reading group. This kidlit group proved so popular, and grew so large, that I had to start another group, and then still another group. And I’d believed I was the only adult who loved the

But the power of objects doesn’t depend on their volume; in fact, my memories were better evoked by a few carefully chosen items than by a big assortment of things with vague associations.

As many as 85 percent of adults keep photos or mementos in their wallets or on their work desks, and happy families tend to display large numbers of photographs in their homes.

To eke out the most happiness from an experience, we must anticipate it, savor it as it unfolds, express happiness, and recall a happy memory, and photographs are a very helpful tool for prompting happy memories.

neglected possessions made me feel guilty and overwhelmed.

We are happy when we are growing.” Research supports his observation: It’s not goal attainment, but the process of striving after goals—that is, growth—that brings happiness.

We possess considerable power to push ourselves to the top or bottom of our natural range through our conscious actions and thoughts.

“Order is Heaven’s first law,” wrote Alexander Pope, and one thing that has surprised me is the significance of clutter to happiness. While positive-psychology researchers rarely address