how to be happy, lesson #8.

Get a hobby.

Surveys of thousands of adults show that people who have a hobby are 6% more likely to rate their lives favorably. (Mookherjee, 1997)

Hobbies are a steady source of interest and provide two essential ingredients in life: consistency and fun.

Personally, I scrapbook. I'm an utter scrapbooking geek. I might qualify as a scrapbooking addict of sorts.

So what is it that I love about scrapbooking? Ah, let me count the ways . . . I love the creativity — taking disparate things (photos, words, paper, embellishments) and making something beautiful and whole and meaningful from them. I love the camaraderie (shout out to my scrappy sisters!). I love the collecting (i.e., shopping). And I love doing it all so our family's memories may be preserved for my children, as well as for generations I'll never know, but who might feel like they know me a little through my pages.

So, got hobby? What do you love about it? How does it move you?

P.S. The above layout isn't mine; it belongs to scrapbooking hero/life artist Ali Edwards, from whom 

I recently took an amazing all-day class. Thanks for being such an incredible inspiration, Ali!! 

from 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People:

What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It

by David Niven, Ph.D.