[Day 199] My reaction to the Geography of Bliss

Happiness. Something so many people yearn for, go on adventure for, smoke cigarettes and drink expensive coffee for, but something so few people truly believe they have. It has been said that happiness exists in certain places, oasis’s of light in a desert of sadness and dissatisfaction. Journalist Eric Weiner sets out to find these bright sports on an otherwise dingy world, and in doing so, hopes to find not the meaning of life, but what it truly means to be happy. Although there are rough patches in the technicalities of the writing style, The Geography of Bliss does not fall short on insight, information, and inspiration.

Let’s start with the rough patches. Ending on a high note is always preferential. Personally, I found the style at times a bit too indulgent, to borrow a phrase from American Idol’s only sane judge, Simon Cowell. I understand that Weiner is a journalist and that his writing style is supposed to be somewhat elevated, but this is a book, and I want a tale that flows. The over-excessive use of quotes admittedly brought me out of the story a lot, because there was just so much information in even a single paragraph that it was almost like you were digging rather than reading. I don’t care about what Satre has to say about hell and other people. The other seventeen quotes will do. Also, his transitions are a bit jarring. It’s apparent that he’s more comfortable writing shorter, focused pieces. Interviews that probably weren’t necessary to the work as a whole were intermixed with quotes from long dead philosophers and witty in-betweens by Weiner. There was just… too much.

On the flip side, however, Weiner’s witty in-betweens did add some interesting insights into the idea of happiness. Take his reasoning for Iceland’s happiness. “My favorite theory is one I call the Get-Along-or-Die Theory. In warm places, this theory states, life is too easy; your next meal simply falls from a coconut tree. Cooperation with others is optional. In colder places, though, cooperation is mandatory. Everyone must work together to ensure a good harvest or a hearty haul of cod. Or everyone dies. Together.” This basically sums up the ‘relationships’ variable in the happiness equation, in an almost touching way. At the end of his adventure to Moldova, he discusses the negative approach to this same variable. “ ‘Not my problem’ is not a philosophy. It’s a mental illness. Right up there with pessimism. Other people’s problems are our problems. If your neighbor is laid off, you may feel as though you’ve dodged the bullet, but you haven’t. The bullet hit you as well. You just don’t feel the pain yet.”

Another strength of Bliss is the amount of information Weiner manages to pack into it without drawing too much away from the story. For instance, did you know that Switzerland has very clean toilets and Bhutan’s capital is the only capital in the world without a stop light? Neither did I. But now I will be revising my travel plans in order to make my pit stops with the Swiss and my walks very far away from the Bhutanese. With many “self help” books, the reader learns things only about themselves, if anything at all. But with The Geography of Bliss, you come away with a lighter heart and a denser mind. Even if you don’t feel happier after having read it, you’ll still feel accomplished, because you’ve come away with more knowledge that before, and who could scoff at that?

Finally, Weiner’s subtle inspirational lessons yield to a more fulfilling read, because he doesn’t just hand it to you. In fact, we step away from this book without a clear answer as to what makes people happy. “Money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important. So are friends. Envy is toxic. So is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude.” So many words to say nothing at all. At least, up front. Up front it almost seems like we’re cheated. Cheated out of the formula for bliss. And it may take you a day, a year, or your entire life to finally understand what Weiner is trying to say. Of course there’s a formula for happiness, he tells you, but my A and B will add up so something different than your A and B. “The Swiss are uptight and happy. The Thais are laid back and happy. Icelanders find joy in their binge drinking, Moldovans only misery.” As India has taught us, contradictions can and do exist; and that’s what makes things interesting.

What’s your happiness equation? Mine is a combination of debating, my nuclear family, sitting somewhere quietly, my MacBook, my iPhone, my alphabetized collection of books, crying after listening to a beautiful song, and the friends who love me as unconditionally as I love them. I still feel like there’s something missing, since all my variables don’t exactly add up to optimism, but at least I’ve got a place to start. After reading this book, I want to live in Iceland, attend an ashram in India, and buy a Ridiculously Expensive Pen. I may not have all the things I need to be happy, but I’ve got a head full of new ideas and a life full of new possibilities.