Things That Make Me Happy

Things that make me happy range from the simple: a single dahlia to the precious: my son's laughter to the mundane: a hot cup of coffee.

I'm sharing this list of 100+ things that make me happy in part to encourage you to draft and use your own list of things that make you happy.

The world is on fire right now and mental health for many people is hanging by a string. People have lost civility and basic manners.

But a little joy can help.

Enjoying small things you love or sharing them with others can make a difference. 

I challenge you to make your own list of ways to spark happiness by doing something for yourself or someone else. It needn't take a lot of time. 

Make a list of 100 things that make you happy.

They can be simple things but they should be happy things.

100+ Things That Make Happy

1. Petting my cats
2. Taking a walk with the dog
3. Face timing with my son (who is recently moved out of state on his own at 19)
4. Emailing my son and getting a reply
5. Morning walk
6. New yoga pants
7. A hot, strong cup of coffee
8. An iced doppio espresso with a lot of ice and a teensy bit of cream on the side
9. Clean sheets
10. Yoga
11. Meditating (long run happiness)
12. Haribo gummy bears
13. Swedish Fish
14. A new lipstick
15. Having a recipe turn out

Simple Things That Make Me Happy

1. Going to a movie
2. Taking a hot shower with a shower bomb
3. Getting a mani/pedi
4. Texting a friend
5. Watching a mystery
6. Reading

Work as many of these simple, little things you can do for yourself or others into your daily routine.

Set reminders on your phone.

1. Cleaning my desk—maybe not so much happiness as satisfaction
2. Emailing my readers
3. A good night’s sleep
4. Rolling out cookie dough or a pie crust

1. The ocean
2. Beach combing
3. Music—preferably jazz or classical but sometimes a good R&B hits the spot.
4. Driving fast on the highway
5. Agatha Christie
6. The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Darkness

1. A Sunday morning with a pot of coffee and the Wall Street Journal
2. Shooting photographs that I’m satisfied with
3. Margaritas or martinis with good girlfriends
4. Hearing my sons laugh
5. A bra that looks good, fits great and is on sale
6. Ditto dresses
7. Dansko clogs
8. Sneakers (partial to Brooks right now)
9. Red woolen mittens
10. Holy Donuts
11. Poke
12. Kitchen Sink cookies from Panera

Little Things That Make Me Happy

1. Raspberry and Chocolate anything
2. Old linens
3. Aprons (new or old)
4. Line-dried sheets
5. AirPods
6. Dior foundation
7. Bobbi Brown pink lipstick
8. Cats in hats
9. Dog shows
10. A good candle
11. Grapefruit scents
12. A half of grapefruit sprinkled with sugar for breakfast
13. A Lemon Drop Martini
14. Sushi
15. Crab Rangoon Pizza
16. A perfectly seared steak
17. Fresh lettuce from my favorite farmers
18. Seedings from my biodynamic gardener
19. Starfish
20. Diamonds

Funny Things That Make Me Happy

• Will Ferrell in anything
• Kathleen Madigan standup comedy
• Tom Papa
• Iliza Schlesinger
• Eddie Murphy
• Chris Rock
• Steve Martin
• Martin Short

Little Things I Love

1. A freshly plucked Maine Honeycrisp apple
2. Cash
3. Bird watching from the living room armchair
4. Movie theater popcorn
5. Stand up comedy
6. Saturday Night Live
7. A fresh cut and color
8. Chocolate frosted donuts from Frank’s Bake Shop
9. Planting dahlia tubers
10. Amaryllis bulbs during winter

1. Picking Maine strawberries
2. Maine blueberry pie
3. An ice cold Coke
4. Beer battered tacos from Taco Trio in Portland, ME 
5. A quiet plane ride 
6. Bamboo and wool blend long underwear
7. Snow shoeing 
8. Cashmere wraps 
9. Mexican food and margaritas 
10. Prop shopping
11. Doing something unexpectedly nice for someone else 
12. A good podcast (currently listening to Ghost Herd)
13. Fresh flowers on my work desk
14. Jasmine tea 
15. A hot water bottle
16. Aleve 
17. The color pink 
18. Tiny white twinkle lights
19. Fiestaware 

Easy Ways To Make Yourself Happy

1. Black cats 
2. Creating concoctions like flavored simple syrups and infusions 
3. Greenhouses 
4. Vintage kitchenware 
5. S’mores 
6. K18 Leave-In Hair Mask
7. Sephora birthday rewards 
8. Fluffy socks
9. Yoga pillows and props (Gaiam is a good brand)
10. My family

Have you heard of the free Yale University course The Science of Well-being?

Cheers to your happiness and mine,

Jennifer