The Geography of Bliss

Off on another trek to various exotic places via a book, my most popular mode of travel. Reading The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner, I felt a bit like I was back traveling with the author of Eat, Pray, Love. Both authors are traveling the world looking for something. I was a little surprised at the places Mr. Weiner went looking for bliss. They aren't the first countries that come to mind when you think of happiness. How about Netherlands, Bhutan, Iceland, Qatar, India, Great Britain? Maybe Switzerland or Thailand, definitely not Moldova, he went there to counteract all that bliss. Moldova, apparently, is the least happy nation on the planet. He even went to Miami but after reading his view on Miami, I don't want to go there (living in paradise can get old).

There are a lot of books out there about our search for happiness. In our library, some titles are The Secret, The happiness hypothesis, Stumbling on happiness, The art of happiness at work, The art of happiness, How we choose to be happy, and Secrets for success and happiness. Mr. Weiner believes that Americans expect to be happy. "No other nation's founding document so prominently celebrates happiness", yet the United States is only the world's twenty-third happiest nation. Where do we find happiness then? Mr. Weiner believes our happiness is completely and utterly intertwined with other people: family and friends and neighbors..." Happiness is not a noun or verb. It's a conjunction. Connective tissue".

Susan