Hello,

Reading is my favorite thing to do—it’s my treehouse and my cubicle. I think that listening to an audiobook “counts,” and my sister Elizabeth loves audiobooks, but I could never maintain my attention if I weren’t reading words on a page.

Recently, however, I discovered a way to tap in to the joy of audiobooks! I listen to children’s books that I know very, very well. Because they’re so familiar, I’m able to follow along, and now I have a chance to “reread” books I love.

I’ve already listened to The Secret Garden, Understood Betsy, several Narnia books, Heidi, and now I’m listening to A Wrinkle in Time. Next: The Phantom Tollbooth. In a recent episode of More Happier, I describe my joy in finding this new way to enjoy literature.

Do you listen to audio-books? Do you read e-books or print? Or can you do it all?

Onward,

5 Things Making Me Happy

Speaking of audio books, a few years ago, as a holiday gift to listeners, I recorded Charles Dickens’s timeless story, “A Christmas Carol.” You probably have a general sense of the characters and plot, but if you’ve never actually read (or heard) the story, it’s scarier, funnier, and more thought-provoking than you might expect.

You can find those episodes here and here.

I have lots of holiday decorations, and I especially enjoy the decorations that have some personal layer of relevance—my Winston Churchill figure, my ceramic “Kansas City Plaza Lights” tower, the star I made in kindergarten. I’ve had these figures from “A Christmas Carol” for years, but after I recorded the story, they became much more meaningful to me. It makes me happy to look at them.

The night before Thanksgiving, Jamie and I walked down a block that held some of the giant balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was fun to see them up close. Here, a trapped Smurf.

I love anything that helps me grasp the vastness of the universe and the span of eons, and I was mesmerized by this gorgeous video, “Timelapse of the Entire Universe” by John D. Boswell.

I’m honored to be part of Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty Mental Health Council, and I admire so much the work that she does to educate people about the importance of mental health and to make more resources available. I just watched her new Apple TV+ documentary, “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me”—such a revealing, thought-provoking exploration of her struggles with bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, lupus, fame, and finding purpose. It opens with the words “Let me make you a promise. I’ll only tell you my darkest secrets."

Updates

• Time is running out to order gifts from The Happiness Project in time for the holidays. Check those final items off your list and get free shipping on any order, this weekend only.
  Use code: FREESHIPDEC
  This offer is valid through Sunday, December 4, 2022 at 11:59pm PST.
  
• I'm excited to be hosting an Instagram Live with Ester Perel on December 7th at 5pm ET. You can watch on my Instagram.

Episodes and Articles

Article

Mary Beth Albright is a writer, editor, and host at The Washington Post, where she has developed multiple culinary series since she arrived in 2017

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I should pursue only those habits that would make me feel freer and stronger.

–GRETCHEN RUBIN

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