Taking our pleasures sadly: a british phenomenon?

Maurice Sendak was a sickly child and in order to keep him safe from the fates his grandmother dressed him all in white.

My grandmother sewed me a white suit, white stockings, and white shoes and I could only sit outdoors with her. God would look down and think I was already dead because I was an angel, dressed all in white... I had to be dressed so as to fool the fates.

In Britain, it seems that many people treat happiness in the same way as Sendak’s grandmother, superstitiously concealing it and behaving as if doesn’t exist. This attitude can adversely affect work performance, the individual’s health and the happiness and resilience of the wider community.

Making Slough Happy has put happiness in the news this week. And I’ve been spending a lot of time defending happiness as being something that can be cultivated and is essential to our health rather than an optional extra. The emerging field of positive psychology highlights the influence of positive emotion and strengths on productivity, creativity, health and happiness. Pat Kane argues for the development of a play ethic to enhance productivity and counteract the dour  effect of the protestant work ethic that underpins the long-hours culture of the UK workplace.

I’ve had a good response to the pilot workshops that I’ve already run. But an initial response that I sometimes hear when I approach groups with the offer of a workshop is that, “Carers are too busy to be happy and don’t have the money”. So many people tell me that happiness is only possible where there is money and leisure yet some of the happiest countries have a low gross national product and their people have little leisure time. However, when I talk about the mind-body connection, most people acknowledge that our emotions and state of mind have a tremendous impact on our state of health.

Happiness affects our health, our immune system and how quickly we recover from setbacks. A mix of laughter and positive psychology can help us. That's what the Happystance project is about.

Copyright 2005, Tony Plant Happystance Project