Want to be happier? Give the benefit of the doubt
- Sat Feb 25 2012
- Astrid Van Den Broek
When my daughter was six weeks old, I took her out grocery shopping solo for my first time. It’s a nerve-wracking event for any new mom and with my colicky daughter, I was quite keyed up. Sure enough just as I was loading bags into my car and snapped her car seat into my Toyota Matrix, she started to wail. Her heart-wrenching cry was then still new to me and often caused me to tear up as well.
Want to be happier? Give the benefit of the doubt
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How to make meaningful connections with new and old friends
- Mon Feb 20 2012
- Sarah Treleaven
You spend the first two or three decades of your life making and keeping and occasionally losing friends, but what after that? Much like dating, befriending can actually become harder and harder as we get older. Here, Sally Horchow, author of The Art of Friendship, explains the impact of social networking on real friendship, and how to make genuine new connections (even with your parents).
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What's on your Happy Music list?
- Sat Feb 18 2012
- Astrid Van Den Broek
I’ve been thinking about music a lot this week. While I always have tunes playing somewhere, whether it’s on my computer while I putter, or in the kitchen while I cook or in the car while I zip around from site to site for work, music’s always there.
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How to take a relationship from good to great
- Mon Feb 13 2012
- Sarah Treleaven
In the beginning, if you're lucky enough to have a kiss between the two of you make the world stand still, you might think that it's always going to be that way. But then, months and years later, many people find themselves asking where the magic went.
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Do you have a Valentine's Day tradition?
- Fri Feb 10 2012
- Astrid Van Den Broek
With Valentine’s Day lurking around the corner, discussions have begun at my house as to what we’re up to this year: call on a babysitter? Order take out from a favourite, not frequented enough restaurant? Do our usual?
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Would you be happier living alone?
- Mon Feb 06 2012
- Sarah Treleaven
Eric Klinenberg, an NYU sociologist, is the author of Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone. Here, he explains why women are better at living alone than men, the social pressures to shack up, and why everyone should live alone at some point in their lives.
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What is the 10 Days of Happiness campaign?
- Sat Feb 04 2012
- Astrid Van Den Broek
Edwin Edebiri is a big believer in happiness—just take a look at his 10 Days of Happiness campaign. Namely, 10 days and ways to become happier—think volunteering with a group or smiling more. Here Edebiri, chief happiness officer of the non-profit I Am Happy Project, shares more about what the campaign, which launched February 1st, is all about.
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Are you a slave to your email?
- Fri Feb 03 2012
- Sarah Treleaven
Considering the situation, it's somewhat remarkable that I was able to get around to writing this post. It's also amazing that I ever manage to drink coffee or make toast or shower or dress myself appropriately (or, more often, inappropriately) or drag myself out of the house for Sunday dim sum. Why is it so amazing?
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Was it snow that made me happy?
- Thu Feb 02 2012
- Astrid Van Den Broek
You can’t argue that it’s been a weird winter so far—in Toronto yesterday, well, we ended the last day of January with 10C temperature. Those few centimetres of snow that fell the day before have melted away, rushing past my driveway in a race to reach the storm drain.
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