Gretchen Rubin is an author, mother, wife, and happiness expert. I dub her the Happiness Project Queen! Educated in Yale Law School, Gretchen won a writing prize, and went on to clerk for a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Despite her extensive law experience, Gretchen heard her calling to be a writer. Gretchen published several books, but is now working on ‘The Happiness Project’. She is learning all there is about writing, and keeping records on her amazing blog The Happiness Project ^[1].

Gretchen made the move from Kansas to big time New York City, not too far from me. She lives there with her husband and two young daughters.

My only hobbies are reading and writing—and helping other people clean out their closets. I’m left-handed, terrible at sports, tone-deaf, a constant hair-twister, and afraid to drive. I talk to my parents and my sister all the time, and I live around the corner from my in-laws.

Gretchen just released an awesome internet mini movie, The Years Are Short ^[2]. I watched it, and was really moved by it. It really captures the essence of life, and the importance of being present.

Gretchen’s Current Books:

• Forty Ways To Look At Winston Churchill ^[3]
• Forty Ways To Look At JFK ^[4]
• Power Money Fame Sex ^[5]

1. How do you define happiness?

Hmmm…that’s so tough. Happiness experts use more than a dozen terms to mean “happiness” (subjective well-being, positive affect, etc.) Instead of spending a lot of energy trying to define it exactly, I just say to myself and everyone else – Let’s think about how to be happier, however we might define it.

2. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your happiness now, versus when you were a child?

I’ve been the same my whole life. I probably rate about an average of 7.

3. What do you do on a daily basis that brings you happiness? (and how consistent is the feeling of happiness throughout your day)

I exercise, I sing in the morning to my children, I email or see friends, I run into friends on the street (I live in New York City so this happens a lot), I read, I kiss my husband.

4. What things take away from your happiness? What can be done to lessen their impact or remove them from your life?

I am the biggest hurdle to my own happiness! — my crabbiness, impatience, fretfulness, envy, and self-centeredness. My whole Happiness Project is aimed at trying to help me control my “bosom enemies” so that they don’t wreck my happiness.

5. What do you plan on doing in the future that will bring you even more happiness?

I’ve been working hard on developing the resolutions for my Happiness Project that will make me happy. Now the challenge is to do them, ceaselessly, for the rest of my life. They aren’t hard, but it takes discipline to keep up with everything.

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To get more info about what the Happiness Project is and isn’t, please visit the Introduction Post ^[6]. To see a running list of all participants, which I will be updating as things happen, please visit the Happiness Project Page ^[7].

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