With a sprightly dose of insightful inspiration, a sprinkling of practical advice, and a bounty of exuberant stories by great writers, O's Little Book of Happiness features some of the best work ever to have appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine. Inside you'll find Elizabeth Gilbert's ode to the triumph of asking for what you want, Jane Smiley's tribute to the animal who taught her about lasting fulfillment, Roxane Gay's sure-fire cure for complaining, Brené Brown's celebration of the powers of play, Neil deGrasse Tyson's take on the joyful participation in the universe, and much more. Revisiting fifteen years of the magazine's rich archives, O 's editors have assembled a collection as stunning as it is spirit-lifting. Since its record-breaking launch in 2000, O, The Oprah Magazine has been a trusted and beloved source of compelling stories and empowering ideas. Reaching twelve million readers each month, the content of O. Magazine, stamped with Oprah Winfrey’s unique vision, encourages confident, intelligent women to reach for their dreams and make the choices necessary to lead happier, more fulfilling lives. O's Little Book of Happiness By The Editors of O The Oprah Magazine Flatiron Books Copyright © 2015 Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-250-06856-9 Contents Title Page, Copyright Notice, Epigraph, Simple Pleasures, The Way Home, Christie Aschwanden, Lumps Are Treasures, Patricia Volk, Book Lust, Pamela Erens, Paradise: Seventeen Cents a Spoonful, Mark Leyner, Tall Tales, Victoria Redel, A Slice of Summer, Abigail Thomas, Wind, Sand, and Sardines, Monica Ali, Personal Growth, Lara Kristin Herndon, Bliss in Action, My Blue Heaven, Anne Glusker, Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Horse, Jane Smiley, Do It Yourself, Jessica Bruder, Enchanted Forest, Joyce Johnson, Varied Treasure, Lisa Congdon, Horizons: Expanded, Heather Greenwood Davis, The Joy of Discovery, Burning Questions, Katie Arnold-Ratliff, The Eye of the Beholder, Sister Wendy Beckett, What If the Hokey Pokey Really Is What It's All About?, Sue Fliess, My Own Best Friend, Robin Romm, Seeing in the Dark, Thelma Adams, The Lesson, Hilene Flanzbaum, Awed and Amazed, Walking with Devotion, Mary Oliver, Graced by Her Present, Meghan O'Rourke, Everyday Magic, Kathryn Sullivan, An Extraordinary Machine, Lila Keary, The Big Picture, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Oh, What A Thrill!, The Cheering Section, Valerie Monroe, Naked and Laughing, Amy Bloom, My Unplanned Adventure, Catherine Price, Two for the Road, Justine van der Leun, Family Rituals, Marianne Gingher, The Year of Saying Yes, Patricia Volk, Sharing Delight, Spread a Little Sunshine, Martha Beck, A River Flows Through Us, Andrea Lee, The Snug Life, Celia Barbour, Married, with Other People's Children, Veronica Chambers, You're Welcome, Lauren F. Winner, The Joan Show, Jessica Winter, Come On, Get Happy, Pleasure 101, Gretchen Reynolds, Could You Be Happier?, Dan Baker, Ph.D., Cheers!, Lise Funderburg, Taking a Chance on Joy, Roger Housden, Stop Whining!, Roxane Gay, Dare to Play, Brené Brown, Uncrumpling My Face, Catherine Newman, Don't Go Changing, Beth Levine, Ask Away, Elizabeth Gilbert, To-Do List, or Not-To-Do List, Martha Beck, Contributors, About the Author, Copyright, CHAPTER 1 Simple Pleasures Each moment in time we have it all, even when we don't. —Melody Beattie The Way Home Christie Aschwanden The walk is not negotiable. No matter how full the day's agenda, we go—my husband, my cow dog, and I—down our rural western Colorado road, past the neighbor's property to the dead end, up the old dirt track grown over with sagebrush and piñon saplings, to the top of the hill where the path ends under a red sandstone cliff. I've watched sunset after sunset from this private perch, and each is the most beautiful I've ever seen. As an air force brat, a competitive ski racer, and then a journalist, I've lived in three countries and more than a dozen cities; trekked up and down the Alps, through Central American rain forests, and along Mediterranean coasts, seeking novelty and adventure. But a kind of loneliness lurked in my perpetual motion. I could fit in anywhere, yet I belonged nowhere. Seven years ago, I fell in love with Cedaredge, the small town where my husband, Dave, yearned to settle, and together we decided to put down roots on a sixteen-acre homestead. Still, I refused to retire my passport. There were so many faraway mountains to climb and foreign cultures to explore. Tying myself to a single place felt confining—until finally, during a particularly irritating flight delay, it dawned on me that while I wasted time in crowded airport lounges, the life I'd dreamed of was waiting for me on the farm. Later that week, I told Dave that I would spend the next 365 days practicing the art of living in place, never venturing more than a hundred miles from home. It was my versio