How to feel happy

Mrs C and I have watched a couple of TV
programmes on making Slough happy. The
makers came up with 10 ideas that could make
you feel happier. I won’t list them all here,
but you can have a look at them on the BBC
website.

Yes, I definitely feel happier if I phone up
a friend or member of the family for a chat,
as they suggested.

Mrs C told me that in one episode they invited
participants to stroll round the local
cemetery, and to read the headstones for
inspiration. I have visited a few graveyards
in recent years … mainly to see where my
parents' ashes were buried and other
graveyards where past ancestors were buried
too. I can’t say any of these visits made me
feel happier… though I was interested to see
the gravestones from a family history point
of view.

I recall visiting Pere Lachaise Cemetery in
Paris over 10 years ago (not long after my
father had died). I saw that someone had
draped fresh white lilies over Chopin’s grave,
and felt deeply touched. I also saw the
Communards’ Wall where some of the commune
members were shot dead against the wall (in
the 1871 uprising). And then in the
crematorium area, there were grieving people
who had just come out of a service.

Later in the day we visited the Catacombs in
Paris, where there are stacks and stacks of
human bones stored underground, bones turfed
out of Parisian graveyards. Well I had to
get out as quickly as possible as I was
feeling too tearful. I walked out of the
place fast.

Am I counting my blessings as the Happiness
Manifesto suggests we should? Well, yes I
am. I’m still alive, and compared with
sad and stressful times in the past, I’m
feeling much happier now.