Science of Wellbeing - Interrupt Your Consumption

I'm taking an online virtual course called the Science of Wellbeing, through Coursera.

Over a period of ten weeks there are a series of lectures and suggested exercises to help embed habits that boost overall wellbeing. It's now Week 5 into the course, also generally coinciding with the same period of Covid isolation and working from home.

The exercises are dubbed 'rewirements,' a phrase I really love as I first heard it when Rob was starting his retirement. Habits and routines so powerfully shape our lives. Taking the course has helped reinforce the importance of maintaining the good habits I already have in place, like my daily yoga and gratitude practices, along with regular meditation and exercise.

The lectures are tailored for Yale students, generally a younger demographic, obsessed with getting top grades and the best jobs in the country. Although admirable quests, the course is a bit of an intervention to help them become happier adults. There is lots of data now to confirm that so much of what we think will make us happy really doesn't entirely fulfill.

Perhaps less known is that, in the long run, experiences tend to make us human creatures happier than acquiring stuff.

Anyway, this week's focus is on Stuff that Makes us Happy, along with techniques to try.

Interestingly, interrupting consumption can help keep experiences peak. This is a bit counter-intuitive at times, for example, most people would say television commercials make watching tv less enjoyable. Yet testing showed brief interruptions actually serve to increase the overall enjoyment of programming, helping to explain in part the success of some mediocre network television.

And yes, this home isolation is definitely interrupting the consumption of some of my favourite experiences. Many of the regular activities I look forward to in my personal routine are now out of the question. No getting together in person with family and friends. No hugs with Alex. No travel, no live theatre, no live concerts. Restaurants and parks closed. St. Lawrence Market closed. Bluffers Park Yacht Club closed. Yoga Centre Toronto closed. Uke jam at the Stone Cottage Inn postponed until further notice. Online substitutions have helped a lot, but I really do miss the real thing.

It is somewhat comforting to know that when this interruption is over, I will appreciate them all the more with a return to a new normal!

In the meantime, some suggested Rewirements to combat Covid blues:

• For three days in a week, spend just 8 minutes replaying a happy event to have a long term effect on lifting mood.
• Take time to truly savour the moment.
• Make this day your last (knowing how much more time you have left to experience something can heighten appreciation).
• Set aside a day to make 5 random acts of kindness (for some reason this is a more powerful mood booster than 1 small act of kindness a day).
• Tell yourself to 'stop' if you become aware you are ruminating on something that is not helpful to you.
• Write a Gratitude Letter to someone to thank them for the positive effect they've had on your life and how much they matter. Then meet with them to read it out loud.