The Happiness Project 2

There aren't many blogs I go back to again and again. One exception is Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project at www.happiness-project.com. She writes beautifully and always has something interesting and inspiring to say. I just read her post on the entering into other people's interests in life, a concept she stumbled upon in a Tolstoy novel.


She wrote, "The phrase that caught my attention in this description is that Nabatov 'entered into all the interest of his mother’s life.' It occurs to me that when you think of people getting along harmoniously – whether in a family, or among friends, or in an office – people make an effort to enter into the interests of each other’s lives." Rubin also wrote that we're often judgmental about other people's interests, which brought to mind my own reaction when a friend told me she and her husband were flying to Phoenix specifically to go to NASCAR races.

While I don't plan to fill my time with activities that interest other people if they don't interest me, I do feel inspired by what she wrote to try to at least learn a little bit about things friends, family and co-workers enjoy.