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State of the Arts Blog
Marianne Combs

Talking about happiness

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It seems the recession has inspired a lot of us, or at least the media, to talk about what it means to be truly happy. The New York Times has an entire series dedicated to it, called Happy Days. The piece that's drawn the strongest response details one man's second chance at life, and how it changed his attitude.

The public's response to his story inspired a conversation on NPR's Talk of the Nation. And this week Midmorning asked if our definition of happiness is changing, and looked at what a longitudinal study of Harvard students begun in 1937 tells us about leading a fulfilling life.

One of the interesting revelations? The paradox of choice, and how having fewer choices in life makes it simpler, and creates less anxiety.