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Spoiler alert: It has nothing to do with money.
Money is essential for meeting our basic needs of security, health, and nourishment, but it actually does a pretty bad job of delivering us the connection and belonging we crave beyond that.
– Rosie Spinks, writer of substack newsletter What Do We Do Now That We’re Here?
Dear Reader,
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dot and Middle Dot Child (MDC) took an online course through Yale. It’s the school’s most popular course in history and it’s called The Science of Happiness. MDC and I learned so much. He started meditating each morning (our professor and host of The Happiness Lab, Dr. Laurie Santos, champions meditation as a science-backed tool to combat mind-wandering, reduce burnout, and increase overall well-being) and Dot felt utterly vindicated for her love of chit-chatting with strangers, when I learned that it, too, is backed by science as a key path to greater happiness.
What does science say about accumulating wealth? According to Dr. Santos, “We’re working very hard towards becoming happier, but we’re often doing it in the wrong way, because our minds are lying to us about the kinds of things that we need to do to be happier.” We chase money and status. When, in fact, once our basic needs are met, there’s very little correlation between money and happiness. Which is largely the point that today’s quote-giver, Rosie Spinks, makes in her newsletter. With both Spinks and her husband having taken a hit to their household income, she’s focusing on things that “make her feel rich.” What’s interesting to Dot is how many of those things are actually good for our environment, too, including eating something that you grew yourself and stay-cations. Dot would add scoring something lovely at the thrift shop and cycling along a forest path.
What makes you feel rich? Tell Dot about it.
Decadently,
Dot
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