A few weeks ago I read two books by Gretchen Rubin: "The Happiness Project" and "Happier At Home." I don't know why I was originally drawn to them. I wasn't looking for help or inspiration on happiness, although I was in a funk. And yet the books spoke to me like it's what I was looking for all along.
While I haven't been able to put all of the suggestions to practice or kept up on all of my resolutions like the books suggested, there was one thing that she wrote that really stuck with me. We are happiest when we do what we love, whether it's full time or as a hobby every once in a while. If you aren't sure what it is that you should spend you're time doing just thing back to what you always did as a child, because when you were a child you didn't think about why you liked doing something, you just did it. This made so much sense to me.
For her example, Gretchen wrote how she compiled what she called "blank books" when she was younger. They were essentially blank books that she would paste clippings from newspapers, magazines or anything that she liked, no matter if it was related to something or not. She filled up blank book after blank book. Today, this love of hers translates into blogging, a never ending blank book where she can share things that interest her on any subject.
I began to think about what was my "thing" as a child. I knew that crafting was one part of it, but not all of it. I pondered more and more and realized it was paper. I loved paper. I loved the blank pages in journals and sketch pads, composition notebooks and packs of loose leaf college ruled paper. I would always be on the hunt for new journals and pads even though I could never actually fill one up. And then it dawned on me: book binding.
I have always wanted to learn book binding. And so I took it upon myself to scour Pinterest and YouTube and learn how to bind books. It has been such a fulfilling endeavor. I have definitely found a new passion. I can honestly say that I am happier because I allowed myself to pursue something that I've always wanted to try.
I encourage you to find what it is that you just did as a child and incorporate it into your life somehow, whether it's a career change that you've been contemplating anyway or a hobby that you need to take up in order to decompress at the end of the day/week. It's a smal step toward happiness, but we all deserve to be one step closer to happiness no matter how small that step is. For one step only leads to another.