My Neighbors Are Not Pleased With Me
The 2-Step Happiness Formula (From Someone Who Uses It Regularly)
It was a highly stressful time in my neighborhood. Yes, inflation and housing crisis, but also, I had just taken up singing lessons. In a boon for my laziness but a tragic turn for my neighbors, they took place at home on Zoom.
I have a tonally excellent ear and therefore can tell when singing comes straight from the depths of Hades. You might think that would make me self-conscious and reluctant to belt forth a tune. But no.
After a trial lesson I knew I’d found my teacher. She worked with kids as well as adults, so she was hugely encouraging of every alarming sound I made and completely unfazed by my musical cluelessness.
Teacher: Can you sing a C?
Me: No, but I know all the lyrics to ‘1000 Oceans’.
(C… sea… ocean? Oh, never mind.)
She mentioned my uvula more than once, which I found rather forward in someone I’d just met, but I decided to suck it up. Which may even help my singing, I speculated. You know what clinched it for me, though? Her favorite recording artist of all time was Tori Amos. Meant. To. Be.
We agreed we’d work on one Tori and one musical theatre selection, which is not a genre I favor. But she suggested Tell Me On A Sunday, which is delightful to sing and not at all about longwinded sermons as I had feared.
In fact, singing is delightful! There’s such pleasure in melody, in expressing a tune you love - with your own voice. No one else may recognize the tune (rude), but still. It makes me happy.
The 2-Step Happiness Formula
One of the simplest paths to happiness is to:
Know what brings you joy, and then
Do it.
Yet how often do we put this into practice? In A Chic Year: 52 Style, Simplicity and Self-Care Projects we devote a entire week to listing things that make us happy and another to scheduling those items into our lives.
Singing was on my happiness list - and although there are other delights on my pleasure plate right now, it will be again. Which means, if one day you come to my décolletage of the woods and spot a profusion of For Sale / Lease signs, you will know why. Pause, smile knowingly to yourself, but for the love of Pete get out of there before my lesson starts.
Meanwhile… what’s something you enjoy, but rarely do? Can you make a little time to do it this week? Please share in the comments!
To small joys in our lives,
Michele
PS Next time, I’ll tell you about the 4 Clutter Personalities I’ve identified…