Tag Archive for: happiness

One more day in 2020!

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Hahaha! I just realized that 2020 is a leap year and we have an extra day on the calendar!

It’s so perfect!

I have two brothers. One of them is lucky (or unlucky) enough to have been born on February 29. So he celebrates his real birthday every four years. As if he didn’t age the other three years! Ha!

Why am I telling you this? Because I’m feeling feverish and bubbly at the thought of an extra day, and because my brother will be celebrating his birthday this year, which makes it special! Not necessarily because 2020 is full of promises, projects and travel! No.

I can’t wait to see what’s possible this year alone. Of all the MORE that will be. Of all the celebrations that will make people smile, sing and dance. Of all the activities we never do in “normal” times, but will do in 2020 because we have an extra day!

….

We often wait for special occasions to do something, wear something we like, drink a certain wine…

So let’s try something new this leap year.

Take out your beautiful dishes every day. Place a candle on the table every evening. Drink from your Crystal glass, your fine china cup. Use your finest cutlery, your most beautiful tablecloth. Wear your beautiful “weekday” dress, your colorful tie. Make yourself beautiful! Just for fun! Don’t wait until February 29 to celebrate!

I can tell you right now that I intend to do everything I’m suggesting here!

I intend to do all that. A little bit every day. To stop waiting for “something special to happen”. Because every day is special! Even more so this year!

Wishing you a very happy, very happy, very especially ordinary New Year! May 2020 make us all AWARE of the beauty of each day – even if the coating sometimes smells bad!

Health, laughter and joy

Your Haha Sister, Linda

 

In search of happiness?

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Last November, I spent several days at the Salon du livre de Montréal, and as I wandered the aisles, one thing struck me. It’s mind-boggling how many books are published on the pursuit of happiness. How to be happier. What to do to feel happier.

I get internet alerts almost daily that articles have been written on this topic. (Yes, I’ve created alerts! HAHAHA! I draw my attention to the beautiful…)

“5 must-haves for happiness…”, “150 quotes to be happy”, “Happiness is within your reach”, “What do happy people do…”, “What you absolutely must know about happiness”. “Don’t do this anymore and you’ll be happy”. And the list goes on!

Whew! Every day, people suggest things to do or not to do to find (or rediscover) happiness! If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s that we all want to be happy!

I search, you search, we search

It got me thinking. Why are there so many books, articles and columns on the pursuit of happiness? Do we believe that one book will give us the infallible, “ready-to-use” recipe without our having to make any effort? Why do we need to be reminded that happiness can be found in all sorts of little things? In our daily lives? In the bright eyes of a child eating his favorite food. In the song of the birds. In the smell of bread, the smell of apple purée simmering on the stove, the smell of flowers or the clementine we’re about to eat (they’re in season right now, and that smell makes me sparkle!). In the amused gaze of a colleague with whom we’ve just exchanged a joke. In the satisfaction of having accomplished something good. In the synchronicity that puts green lights on our way to work…

As the decade draws to a close, I invite you to make an important list. Write down a minimum of 50 things that make you happy. Things that make you feel good. Your 50 “happinesses”. And keep this list in sight. So you don’t forget! So you can dip into it when you need it. When things aren’t going so well.

I challenge you

And I’m doing it with you too.

I’ve even created a sheet so we can write it all down. It is here in pdf format, easy to print!

Challenge issued. Challenge accepted!

And share YOUR finds with me! Who knows, I might just add them to my own list! Nothing’s stopping me from going to 75, 100 or, why not, 200!

Shall we do it? Let’s do it!

Laughter, joy and health

Linda

P.S. Want to see a list of books on happiness? I simply typed “books on happiness” into Google and this is what I found – only on Amazon… And even more here, what Mrs. Google gives me…

Putting things into perspective

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There’s nothing like laughing with children to put things into perspective! I experienced just that on Saturday, when Rossana Bruzzone, the bubbly beauty behind Neige en couleurs, invited me to offer mini laughter yoga sessions under a heated yurt in Montreal’s Ignace Bourget Park.

What a gift!

Let me put you in context.

Curtain up on the stage…

Friday morning, when I woke up, I got a nasty surprise: my website had been hacked after suffering a hijacking attempt! Total panic! BAM! It was all hands on deck to protect my work, change passwords, and make sure everything was okay… The whole thing is quite a nightmare.

If someone tries to move a site to another server – and thus block access to it – it’s a most frightening and catastrophic scenario. It’s hard to imagine anyone waking up in the morning and thinking: who’s going to steal today? But it does exist! But alas…

I was supposed to leave for Montreal during the day on Friday, but I was pretty upset about the whole thing, so I decided to hit the road the next morning… and when I looked at the weather forecast, I saw that another 10 to 15 cm of snow and rain were forecast… Travel and participation called into question. Safety first and foremost.

The next morning, sunshine and barely ½ cm of snow on the ground! And off we go to Montreal!

Without realizing it, I was heading for a corner of paradise… not a physical one, no – everything was icy, wet and too windy to be pleasant outside when I arrived. No, it was a corner of paradise for the heart! For love, complicity, simplicity, candor…

A yurt is round!

Now that’s fun!

A few families were seated at tables, drawing, tinkering… colorful posters promoting health, joy and lasting happiness on the “walls”.

At first, I didn’t have many participants. First, I had to do a few laughter yoga exercises with one child at a time, then do a session with a parent-child group.

Because Rossana suggested he come to me, I started by laughing with a handsome 7-year-old boy with sparkling, sky-blue eyes! He was accompanied by his father, little brother and two sisters, but he came alone to laugh with me while the others made a craft for the next day’s happiness parade.

My new friend was reserved but did the exercises willingly. And the exercise he seemed to enjoy the most was… laughing at tears! He didn’t laugh out loud, but he laughed sincerely. HO HO HAHAHA was said with enthusiasm!

The same goes for the little girl who came to me after a few minutes. A pretty 6-year-old girl whose favorite color is turquoise and who was breathing in the scent of her favorite flower… turquoise! “Even though a turquoise flower doesn’t smell very good, it’s so pretty!

Finally, some families arrived, and we kicked off a fun session under the yurt!

A small miracle…

First, my morning gloom quickly vanished with the first smile I exchanged with the little boy at the start of the activity. But it wasn’t until I was walking back to my car that I really paid attention to how I was feeling at that moment.

My heart was overwhelmed with gratitude. Grateful to have had the joy of being TOUCHED in the heart by the simplicity, the naturalness, the authenticity of these children. Without trying to force it, their eyes spoke loudly and SAID joy! Hope! Faith! Faith in a world of goodness, beauty, help, purity…

To tell you how good it made me feel. How it got me “out of my head” as an adult! I felt light and far from the responsibilities of being a big, serious, stressed-out person during this moment of grace.

For a while, I really believed that the world is beautiful and that anything is possible!

I know the world is beautiful, but at that moment, it was an ASSURED CERTAINTY. In that moment…

What if we made this moment last? What if we cultivated this state of openness, abandonment, playfulness, hope… and above all kindness…

Shall we do it?

Laughter, joy and health

Linda

A real HAPPY DAY!

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A little over a year ago, I received a phone call and an e-mail from a certain Rossana Bruzzone. She left me a message in lilting French – Italian accent, I wondered? Spanish? hum… – inviting me to be part of a project she was working on. Montreal, the happiest city.
Having lived in Montreal for almost 14 years, I’ve grown to love this city of many faces and colorful neighborhoods. I still work here several times a month, and even though I no longer live here, it still feels like home.
After a laughing conversation with Rossana, I immediately agreed to provide her with gifts for her events and also to host a special “Laughter and Good Humor” evening at a Mile End café. That day, a love story was born between the two of us.

Rossana is a luminary. In every sense of the word! She spreads joy and hope. The name she has chosen for her business is “Neige en Couleurs”. Originally from Italy (I had it all right!), Rossana has been living in Montreal since 2013 and offers optimistic writing workshops and all sorts of “courses” that feel good and make you smile. Optimist writing is a branch of autobiographical writing that aims to highlight the beauty of everyday life: encounters, surprises, happy events.Rossana is leader of the project Montréal, la ville la plus heureuse au monde, produced as part of the Je fais Mtl movement. She co-created a documentary, #Mtllaplusheureuse, which involved the community involvement of 400 citizens.

After his event on Mont-Royal, “Le grand cri: Montréal est la ville la plus heureuse”, we agreed to meet again to explore what we could do together. And we came up with THE HAPPY DAY!
A great day to cultivate joy, happiness and laughter in your life!
Frankly, if I hadn’t organized it, I would have signed up for this day! hahaha! You’ll leave with a smile… that’s more than a promise!
We’ll be at 400 Atlantic Street, Suite 602 in Montreal.
Registration required: https://www.yogadurire.com/boutique/happy-rendez-vous/
Or call 514 806.4057

Laughter, joy and health

Linda

Which films make you laugh?

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I’m often on the road with passengers (I’m a member of a car-sharing organization) and I always ask them what films – or TV series (or NETFLIX) – made them laugh. Sometimes, I only have one title to jot down in my little “good humor” notebook, and other times, I have several ideas thanks to them!

I’ll never forget the passengers who made the Ottawa-Toronto trip with me! The one at the front mentioned several titles: White Chicks (to which the others reacted by laughing and saying that it was a silly film, but funny too), Qu’est-ce qu’on a fait au bon Dieu?, Détestable moi… and Les Visiteurs!

*The Visitors*! One of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen! For the rest of the ride, every time one of us would say a line out loud, the other would burst out laughing! You can’t imagine how hard we laughed just saying, “Come on, Béa!!! The bottle of Chanel!!!!!!!!!!” “Monsieur Ouille…”We both knew scenes from this movie by heart! The passengers in the back started laughing when they heard us laughing so hard while talking about this movie! The car of good cheer! That’s exactly what we were! Honestly, even though it was a five-hour drive, it felt so short that day!!

So I’m sharing some of my titles with you…

  1. CHIPS: I’ll admit it (guilty pleasure), I laughed a LOT at this movie! It may not be to everyone’s taste, but I laughed out loud a lot of the time!
  2. What have we done to God?: Oh, I really liked that! With Christian Clavier, by the way. A couple marries off their daughters to men of different nationalities and religions. Hello, clichés!
  3. Detestable me: I think you all know what this is! A great animated film that feels good.
  4. Les Visiteurs: starring Jean Reno, Christian Clavier and Valérie Lemercier, among others. One of the funniest films I’ve ever seen! A dream cast and a formidably effective script.
  5. Asterix and Obelix, Mission Cleopatra: MY movie for laughs! My favorite! Every time I watch it (yes! I have the DVD), I start laughing again at something I didn’t remember! With Christian Clavier, Gérard Depardieu, Alain Chabat, Jamel Debbouze, Édouard Baer, Monica Belluci, Gérard Darmon… A great cast! And I know some of his lines by heart!
  6. Brice de Nice: Completely couik this film but the first time I saw it, I laughed out loud! “J’t’ai cassé!!!”
  7. Frankie & Grace: Great Netflix series starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. Two middle-aged women become friends… two very different friends!
  8. Absolutely Fabulous: The series, not the movie… Patsy and Edina made me laugh out loud several times!
  9. Dame Edna: Ah, that’s what I occasionally give myself for a laugh on YouTube! Such an ordinary housewife! (NOT!)
  10. The Graham Norton Show: A unique Englishman! A talk show with a difference! Also on YouTube.

I’m always on the lookout for things that might help me cultivate my sense of humor – I prefer comedies to dramas at certain times of my life (and day!). And when I need it, I have MY LIST! It’s right there in my laughter toolbox.

What would your list of funny movies look like? Or funny shows?

Laughter, joy and health

Linda

P.S. To this list, I would add Lâcher prise, La petite vie, Les Magnifiques, Bridemaids, Les Boys (especially the first film)… and Top Secret!