"I have called this soaring wealth and shrinking spirit "the American paradox." More than ever, we at the end of the last century were finding ourselves with big houses and broken homes, high incomes and low morale, secured rights and diminished civility. We were excelling at making a living but too often failing at making a life. We celebrated our prosperity but yearned for purpose. We cherished our freedoms but longed for connection. In an age of plenty, we were feeling spiritual hunger."

- psychologist David Myers in a recent report that appeared earlier this week on Crosscut about a new poll that suggests Western states report a better sense of well being.

Meyers is alluding to the fact that though we might be happier here out West it's a much lower level of collective happiness compared to where we were some 50 years, before our overall happiness, "took a drubbing," as Knute Berger said in his article on Crosscut.   Berger goes on to reference Bill McKibbon's groundbreaking book Deep Economy where McKibbon said, "all that material progress — and all the billions of barrels of oil and millions of acres of trees that it took to create it — seems not to have moved the satisfaction meter an inch."

So we ask you this, especially our well-traveled readers, are we happier here in the West?  And what factors contribute to this higher level of happiness?  It seems a particulary interesting time to be talking about happiness when it's obvious that so many people are experiencing a particulary challenging and unhappy part of their lives.  However, now is a good as time as any to consider the things in life that really do make you happy.  So starting today we are going to work on a list of what makes us happy here in the West, particulary Spokane.  Please add on.

1) That it still feels a little wild and undiscovered around here.

2) Our compelling boom and bust history.

3) "A geography of hope." as Wallace Stegner said.

4) Strong literary tradition.

5) The weather...

 

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