First an update.
When I first wrote this article, I was motivated by the notion of how we might design happiness. I started a project, Happyness By Design to explore this. As part of this project, I interviewed multiple creatives, scientists and entrepreneurs. I also worked on a chrome extension to try help make one 'happier' when they are online by being more conscious of how they spend their time.
It took me some time to realise that there are certain habits, exercises and rituals we can do to feel a greater sense of contentment. Happiness and contentment are states that change. Whilst one could experience a state of great happiness through a chemical surge of dopamine or oxytocin after a certain activity, once you're out of that activity, there will eventually be a return to normalcy. If something bad happens - you might feel the equivalent opposite low of the previous high.
When I went through my own lows, I met and learned from Felix Farley, to practice gratefulness and the importance of spirituality (it doesn't have to be religious). be in touch with one's spirituality. By knowing the science of happiness, one might understand what how to better manage the neurochemicals going through our brain. By practicing and teaching it, one might eventually be able to master one's own emotional state. I'm certainly still trying!
Original article.
In the current climate of pessimism in the fallout of the COVID-19 virus, it is easy to fall into a cycle of negativity, a feeling of hopelessness and a development of bad unhealthy habits. For some, it’s also perhaps more difficult to stay positive with major changes happening with some of the major pillars in life: love, money, family and work.
In a brief glimpse of the effects of COVID-19 around the world, it’s not been very positive:
In such a time, things can suck.
However, when it comes to our happiness, we can choose to positively rather than negatively effect it. Getting a nice cup of tea, a hug, a walk in nature — enjoying the little things in our life can make us happier. There are more detailed studies of why and how of happiness but one simple thing we can do to become naturally high is joy triggers, a concept popularised by Ariana Huffington almost a decade ago.
Joy triggers are us appreciating the small things in our life. It’s a way which Mrs Huffington describes as “ getting joy from simple but beautiful things.” Whilst there are many aspects of our life that is out of our control — we do not necessarily need to let them dominate our minds and repetitively stress ourselves by overthinking the bad things in our life. Psychologists have found that overthinking can lead to serious emotional distress and increase the risk of mental health problems. Thinking in endless circles is not productive and is also not helpful to feeling happy. There are some tips to counter overthinking but having joy triggers is one such counter.
In the Pixar film, Inside Out, the protagonist, Riley is controlled by 5 main emotions — fear, sadness, joy, disgust and anger (pictured left). In real life, our brains are similarly controlled by neurochemicals (small organic molecule or peptide that participates in neural activity). There are four main neurochemicals when it comes to creating the emotions and sensations which we have come to associate with joy and happiness.
Dopamine.
[ aka natural high]
A type of neurotransmitter which our body makes and the nervous system uses to send messages between nerve cells. It plays a major role in how we feel pleasure. It plays a major role in motivation and reward. It’s also a big part of our unique human ability to think and plan. It’s a big part of our unique human ability to think and plan. When we achieve a goal, accomplish a task or get positive social stimuli, we receive a pleasurable hit of dopamine. It’s how our brain tells us we’ve done a good job.
Serotonin.
[ aka molecule of happiness]
A chemical produced by our nerve cells. It sends signals between our nerve cells and impacts every part of our body, from emotions to motor skills. It is found mostly in our digestive system ( getting the right food is important in maintaining good levels of serotonin) but also in blood platelets and throughout the central nervous system. Serotonin is considered a natural mood stabiliser that helps us with sleeping, eating, and digesting.
When serotonin levels are normal, one feels more focused, emotionally stable, happier and calmer.
A 2007 study found that people with depression often have low levels of serotonin. Serotonin deficiency has also been linked to anxiety and insomnia.
Oxytocin.
[ aka love horomone]
A hormone secreted by the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland, a pea-sized structure at the base of the brain. It acts on organs in the body and as a chemical messenger in the brain, controlling key aspects of social bonding, sexual reproduction, childbirth and the period after childbirth. It’s what makes us feel good when we receive a hug, have close relationships, skin-to-skin contact and affection.
Endorphins.
[ aka feel good chemicals]
Short for “endogenous morphine” — which means morphine from the body — they are produced by the central nervous system to cope with pain or stress. Endorphins are like natural opioids. They help relieve pain and boost our feelings of happiness. The levels of endorphin released by conducting certain activities vary from individual but some of them such as regular exercise, giving, spicy foods, dark chocolate and laughing have been shown to boost endorphins.
So coming back to happiness on demand — joy triggers. Many people have a mental note of things that they do which make them happy. Some people write them down and hope that they become habits. You can define your joy trigger, retrospectively or in the moment. In the former, you can consider what makes you feel happier. The activities that give you pleasure, the music that gives you a pump, the people that make you smile and what makes you excited. This is very helpful in figuring out what matters to you and an enabler for you to conduct more of your time on the things that can bring you joy.
In the latter, the in the moment discovery of your joy triggers can be helpful in finding pleasure on the “small things”.
‘Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall. It’s the little things that make happy moments, not the grand events. Joy comes in sips, not gulps.’ — Sharon Draper
Through being more aware and mindful of joyful moments as they happen, you can notch up a list of the small sources of joy, the “joy triggers” in your life as they occur. Small things such as a quick stretch, saying hi to your neighbours, doing a spontaneous zoom call — mundane, trivial activities but ones that can make a sizeable difference when added up to your happiness.
Remember the natural high — dopamine? When you note down these small sources of joy in your life, you can always turn into one of them and give yourself that little kick. That little bit of happiness and ray of sunshine in terrible times. When you’re in a terrible situation, rather than dwell and overthink on what you can’t control — turn to what you can. The little things that provide you a shot of joy can be what helps you be a bit more mindful on the good in your life and make it just that much better.
It’s just a little switch to make you feel that much better 🙂
