Within and without
A thoughtful assertion, that cheerfulness is as much internally derived as externally influenced.  Wish you the conditions needed to have it come to you both from within and without.Cheerfulness, it would appear, is a matter which depends fully as much on the state...
The breath of happiness
Ivan is a character, apparently based on Vasily Grossman’s brother-in-law, who survived 30 years in a gulag before being released into ‘normal’ life. He is resilient enough to be able to rediscover the existence of love and kindness, as well as...
Freedom from alarms
One of the joys of leaving a job is the growing awareness that waking becomes a natural process, rather than an aural shock. This doesn’t necessarily mean waking late, just naturally, and I still get up as early as I ever did, about six in the winter and five...
Plump with happiness
Another beautiful description of a young dog’s capacity for joy and playfulness, even when hungry and abandoned. Vasily Grossman seems to have had a particular sensitivity to animals and appears to convey the deeper reverberations of their souls. Whether this...
How simple and frugal
A ringingly simple statement about happiness needing few props in the right place with the right person. A happy moment between Zorba and his friend and occasional boss. Feel free to complete the sentence, ‘How simple and frugal a thing is...
All in one nuannaarpoq description
In this wish-list John Keats, English poet and nuannaarpoq award winner No. 3 (according to this website), covers quite a few building blocks of happiness. Noteworthy is his mention of ‘health’ early on, given that it was illness that cut short his...Yes, sign me up!
