The Pursuit of Happiness
Mark K February 25th, 2008
Are there some countries with happier citizens than others? Is happiness something that comes from within, or something you can find by traveling to a happy place? Columnist Thomas Swick asked these questions in a recent article. He describes a new book called The Geography of Bliss, in which author Eric Weiner describes his travels around in search of the happiest countries.
It’s hard to draw any easy conclusions from his findings. The United States, home of the happy hour, the happy ending and the smiley face, did not rate particularly high on the happiness scale, nor did Holland where people are often drawn in the pursuit of pleasure. He found that a fairly wealthy country, Switzerland, and a poor one, Bhutan, had happy populations perhaps due to the beauty of nature there. Not surprisingly, Russia was found to be a somewhat unhappy place, but Iceland - with it’s six months of cold and darkness was actually a fairly happy country.
Weiner points out that Americans, more than people from other countries, tend to believe that they can find happiness by traveling or even moving to another (happier) place. This makes sense, since the United States was populated by people who emigrated here from other lands in the pursuit of happiness.
I have always thought that Americans were known for traveling and that it was a right-of-passage for young Americans to take a journey with a backpack throughout Europe or some other part of the globe. Maybe things have changed with the weakening of the dollar and the fearfulness brought on by 9/11. In his blog Where the Hell is Matt? the author wanders around the world and films himself doing a little dance in each country he visits. Despite traveling tens of thousands of miles a year, he made this observation about himself and his fellow Americans in a recent post.
I didn’t invent world travel. I’m not even particularly good at it. There are lots and lots of people out there. It’s just that very few of them are American.
He contrasts this with his take on Australians:
I have an unabashed fondness for Australians — especially as travelers. They’ve got a sensibility that makes them really good at it. They’re tough, they don’t complain, and they can manage to laugh about pretty much any situation, no matter how bleak or miserable.
Matt travels to some pretty unusual places that require an adventurous spirit. I wonder if his conclusions about Americans not being out there in large numbers are accurate. I wonder, too, what this says about the theory that Americans search for happiness through their happy feet. I’m also wondering how Australians rate on the happiness scale.
Does happiness come from within, or does it come from the places where we live or visit?
