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Sally Murphy, Australian author

Poetry Friday: How to be Happy

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Happy Poetry Friday. This week I have been reading Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to Happiness. A gift from my big sister, this is just the right kind of book to read in January, especially in a January in the midst of a global pandemic.  As you might guess, the book is about happiness, but if you don’t know Bill Bailey’s other work,  you might not know what to expect.  Through a series of vignettes and reflections, Bailey gives his take on moments of happiness in his own life, exploring both what he feels happiness and contentment actually are, and how we might find them. It is funny, but it is also clever, and, more than once, I found myself heading off to follow up on research he mentions.

As I finished the book yesterday, I looked back at the contents page and was struck that it was a list of things he does that make him happy:

Crazy Golf

A Clear-out

Wild Swimming

and so on. Which led me to feel inspired to write a list of my won which led, as you might imagine if you know me, to a list poem.

So, with thanks to Bill Bailey, here is my list:

 

How To Be Happy

Breathe

Bug

 

Eat

Laugh

Love

Sleep

(soundly)

 

Walk on the beach

or through the trees

or swim

 

and swim some more.

Read a good book

(or a bad one

then discard it

half way through

and read another good one).

Write a book

or a poem

or even just a sentence

Be brave

Be bold

Be still

or just BE.

(Poem copyright Sally Murphy, 2021)

Another thing that makes me happy is reading the poetry posts of the Poetry Friday community. Laura Shovan is hosting the roundup this week. Head to her blog to find links to lost more poetry goodness.

Happy Days!

Comments

  1. Another way to be happy: visiting Poetry Friday friends! Thanks for sharing your joys (and the book you’re reading — looks good)!

  3. Nice! I made a list a few years ago of things to do to feel better. I never thought of making it into a poem. I should try that!

  4. I love your list poem and your focus on what makes you happy! This makes me want to write one, too, and to invite my students to do the same. Thanks for sharing the spark !

  5. Your list is special with your happiness sparks. Of course, I especially like your word beach, but just be brings happiness to a new level of thought and action. Stay happy, Sally.

  6. Thanks for the book recommendation, Sally. I’m connecting with “Breathe” in your poem as I do Yoga with Adriene’s 30 Days of Yoga (this year’s theme is Breath). Glad to see you in the link up today!

  8. Thank you, Sally! There are so many ways we can be happy and content in this world. Again, I envy your swimming. I used to feel so guilty when I quit a book, but thanks for permission because often do it. 😉

  9. I love every part of your list, Sally, especially the beach time, am missing my annual trip & wishing the ocean was just down the road. Sometimes, I admit, it makes me happy to “Just be”. You’ve written truth! Happy Weekend!

  10. This is delightful! I enjoy your simple list…and yet, keeping those simple activities in your life is not always easy. But, your list makes it seem like it is. Have a walk on the beach for me today. I’m losing a dear one and the water seems to understand how to soothe that. Your walk will soothe by proxy, I’m sure.

    • Oh Linda I am so sorry to hear that, and do hope you are getting some of the soothing vibes I am sending your way.

  11. I love this post Sally, your poem, and the Happiness book! I especially like
    “(or a bad one
    then discard it
    half way through
    and read another good one).”
    Susan Bruck recently on her Poetry Friday post read “The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living” (The Happiness Institute Series). I think I’m due for a Happiness book, thanks for the smiles!

Trackbacks

  1. […] and can be found  in moments. It also led to me writing a poem about happiness, which I posted here on my blog on Poetry Friday.  And any book that inspires me to write is a […]