So much of what surrounds us seems to be gloom and doom. We need not catalogue them; everyone knows the endless list of sorrows, wars, and plagues that seem to threaten to overcome us. With this in the front of my mind I recently came across a book that seemed to demand reading. Written by Eric Weiner, an international reporter for National Public Radio, it is entitled, The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World. It seemed a perfect antidote for the poisonous atmosphere around us.
Weiner, an experienced world traveler, chose ten countries to visit in search of people who were happy and what made them so. An odd collection it was and the chapter titles will give you only a hint of what he found. He visited 10 different countries. The chapters are as follows: The Netherlands–Happiness is a Number; Switzerland–Happiness is Boredom; Bhutan–Happiness is a Policy; Qatar–Happiness is a Winning Lottery Ticket; Iceland–Happiness is Failure; Moldova–Happiness is Somewhere Else; Thailand–Happiness is Not Thinking; United Kingdom–Happiness is a Work in Progress; India–Happiness is a Contradiction; and America–Happiness is Home.
He writes in an interesting and readable style. His sense of irony and biting humor are barely beneath the surface of his comments. He avoids drawing sweeping conclusions, is not judgmental, and recognizes that each nation, with the glaring exception of Moldova, has many individuals that would classify themselves as moderately happy. This is not a new book, published in 2007 so things have changed on a global scale since then, but some of his observations remain true today.
One of the most striking is that the wealth of the country seems to have little to do with the level of individual or national happiness. Qatar, for example, is the richest country per capita in the world, or at least it was when this book was written. Its transition from a tiny bit of sandy wasteland to its current status took place in only a decade. Weiner attributes their state of unhappiness to the lack of culture; they have untold riches, but little understanding of how to capitalize it into a culture; they have no history except more money than sense of purpose. In America we can see a parallel in lottery winners who have been studied. There is virtually a uniform lack of happiness, despite their great fortune. Everyone has heard the old saw, money can’t buy happiness. Weiner believes that to be true but as some wag once said, it can make misery easier to bear.
Bhutan, on the other hand, has a category called GNH, a Department of Gross National Happiness. It is overseen by a cabinet level minister but they have little money. A surprising finding was that Iceland that frozen wasteland with active volcanoes, had an unexpected number of people who professed to be quite happy. Although there were other reasons one of the primary seemed to be that the ethos of the country was not dissimilar to a university campus where drinking to excess starts on Thursday as soon as the sun goes down and continues until Sunday. In Iceland the sun was always down during his visit so you get the idea. Another tidbit should you visit there: Don’t snack on their favorite nacho, rotten shark. That’s a local treat to be avoided at all costs.
His research has no scientific merit being entirely anecdotal but one cannot fail to admire his ingenuity in seeking out sources. The Netherlands actually have a massive data pool on happiness around the world which guided his selection of nations. In every case, even miserable Moldova, he made real friends which leads to the final point: Home is where the heart is and that’s where one is most likely to find happiness. It’s not about money, life style, scenery, or any other tangible thing. It’s about relationships; that transcends everything else.
His final chapter is about America. Where did he find the greatest happiness in the United States? In our neighbor just down the Blue Ridge Parkway: Asheville, NC.
A very entertaining book; if you read it, just remember to take your heart along and you will never have to leave home.
As C.S. Lewis famously said, “You need three things to be happy: something to do, something to hope for, and someone to love.” I hope Eric Weiner, the self-described grump, found all three.
– Hayden Hollingsworth
