Comments on: The Happiness Recession http://insight-magazine.org/2009/headline/the-happiness-recession/ The Magazine for Alumni and Friends of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Sun, 20 Feb 2011 23:54:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: elizabeth http://insight-magazine.org/2009/headline/the-happiness-recession/comment-page-1/#comment-118 elizabeth Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:45:33 +0000 http://insight-magazine.org/?p=270#comment-118 It's too easy to tell people to "reset" their lives when yours might not be riddled with debt, bankruptcy, tax liens and the real possibility of homelessness. I have 5 children. My husband had a very successful construction business up until 2007 when the bottom just fell out from under us. We are trying to hang on by our finger nails and would gladly retire into the wilderness, if we didn't have all this debt on our shoulder. Please -I am terrified and very touchy right now. When I hear people like you I get angry because you aren't being tested while saying these things you have said. I am assuming by your title that you are still able to pay the bills. O well. I don't mean to rant. Have a good day. It’s too easy to tell people to “reset” their lives when yours might not be riddled with debt, bankruptcy, tax liens and the real possibility of homelessness. I have 5 children. My husband had a very successful construction business up until 2007 when the bottom just fell out from under us. We are trying to hang on by our finger nails and would gladly retire into the wilderness, if we didn’t have all this debt on our shoulder. Please -I am terrified and very touchy right now. When I hear people like you I get angry because you aren’t being tested while saying these things you have said. I am assuming by your title that you are still able to pay the bills. O well. I don’t mean to rant. Have a good day.

]]> By: Bob Potter http://insight-magazine.org/2009/headline/the-happiness-recession/comment-page-1/#comment-115 Bob Potter Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:26:02 +0000 http://insight-magazine.org/?p=270#comment-115 The “happiness recession” is very much on my mind these days. My two sons, both IT “gurus” in the Chicago area, go to sleep each night not knowing how long their employers (and their own jobs) will be around. I encourage them to “reset” themselves—to look for opportunities in emerging technologies and to look for happiness in lifestyle simplification. I point to a friend of mine here in Southwest Wisconsin, a college graduate and master carpenter, who chose to retire to a 12-acre hilltop in a sod home without electricity or plumbing. Harvey Baumgartner allowed me to transcribe, edit, and publish the hand-written (of course) journal he kept by candlelight while building his sod home by daylight. As I typed, I grew to appreciate Harvey’s joy in creating a home from materials provided by nature, his detailed observations of the flora and fauna surrounding him, his recollections of a lifetime of outdoor adventure, and his reflections on the changing world. Harvey is a modern-day Thoreau. He does not have 24/7 links with the outside world, but he seems to be more comfortable in his skin than most people I know. The message of Harvey’s book Dancing in the Dew: A New Way of Living on Planet Earth, is that we don’t need all that stuff to be happy. That message apparently resonates with many people in this these troubled economic times, if online sales of his book are any indication (dancinginthedew.com). I fully understand that most Americans would not willingly forsake the conveniences of modern living for a sod home, even with fresh vegetables and eggs. However, a “reset” of our values and “requirements” might just lead us to a place of greater human connection, less stress, and more happiness. Bob Potter Adjunct Instructor (Online) The Chicago School of Professional Psychology The “happiness recession” is very much on my mind these days. My two sons, both IT “gurus” in the Chicago area, go to sleep each night not knowing how long their employers (and their own jobs) will be around. I encourage them to “reset” themselves—to look for opportunities in emerging technologies and to look for happiness in lifestyle simplification.

I point to a friend of mine here in Southwest Wisconsin, a college graduate and master carpenter, who chose to retire to a 12-acre hilltop in a sod home without electricity or plumbing. Harvey Baumgartner allowed me to transcribe, edit, and publish the hand-written (of course) journal he kept by candlelight while building his sod home by daylight. As I typed, I grew to appreciate Harvey’s joy in creating a home from materials provided by nature, his detailed observations of the flora and fauna surrounding him, his recollections of a lifetime of outdoor adventure, and his reflections on the changing world. Harvey is a modern-day Thoreau. He does not have 24/7 links with the outside world, but he seems to be more comfortable in his skin than most people I know.

The message of Harvey’s book Dancing in the Dew: A New Way of Living on Planet Earth, is that we don’t need all that stuff to be happy. That message apparently resonates with many people in this these troubled economic times, if online sales of his book are any indication (dancinginthedew.com).

I fully understand that most Americans would not willingly forsake the conveniences of modern living for a sod home, even with fresh vegetables and eggs. However, a “reset” of our values and “requirements” might just lead us to a place of greater human connection, less stress, and more happiness.

Bob Potter
Adjunct Instructor (Online)
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

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