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Happiness: So Easy (and So Elusive)
Posted by Kevin Salwen on 04.29.2010Share

The envelope that came in the mail last night caught my eye. That's saying something in the email era, one in which the Postal Service has been relegated to a deliverer of bills and junk mail.

But when you get an envelope that is bright green and bears two simple words, you take notice. And I did, especially since the words were Happiness Inside.

Happiness Inside. My heart raced. What could it be? A pamphlet on family-relationship building? A guide to how to meet your neighbors? A model for less solo computer time, less mindless TV, less running around for errands -- all of which the envelope's contents would teach me to replace with deeper community connections?

Then I noticed the return address and my heart sank. DSW. Designer Shoe Warehouse. "Designer shoes. Warehouse prices." Inside, the $10 off certificate, with the words "Just what you've been waiting for..."

Just what I've been waiting for? Marketers have been telling us the same crap for decades: Buy this and you'll be happy. Just this one happiness-inducing product (which happens to be the one I get paid to sell). It's a myth and mantra we fall into so easily.

I put down the envelope, walked into the other room and playing doubles Ping-Pong. Hannah and I were defeated by Joan and Joseph 21-19. I felt happy inside.

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