Yesterday I taped my mouth taped shut.
Now, before there’s a chorus of “YES, FINALLY!”…
This is a post about staying open-minded.
So, if that’s what you’re thinking. Ouch!
And, well, be a bit more op – en – min – ded!!
Be more like Sweden in Summer. Open.
It feels like we crawl out from under rocks in Sweden in Summer.
It’s glorious, hot and sunny and the urge to be outside explodes.
And there are houseguests. People come to stay (see picture).
And yesterday, Habitmaker Marie’s son Gustav was here and he’s such a great houseguest.
In fact, he’s a newly qualifying Naprapath (like Chiropracter but with more Napra).
So, we were trying to impress him with home-made vegan yoghurt and he was adjusting our spines.
And, later, in a mumbled conversation in the hall on the way back from the bathroom, I hear Mia laugh.
Next thing she’s taping my mouth shut. She explains that Gustav tapes his mouth to breath through his nose at night.
Now, do you also get a sense of your mind closing right now?
I did.
I mean, really!?!
But, what the hell, it’s summer. Only live once, etc etc.
Masking tape applied (vertically btw), I turn out the light.
Only to wake up this morning full of life at 5.45am.
(yes, read that again).
I was really well-rested and recalling a vivid, life-enhancing dream that put some fire in my belly.
Openness pays. It is an element of Summer.
And, so, if like me, the next part of your Summer is about getting to work again, here’s a suggestion.
It increases happiness and disproves the myth that solitude (being closed) is better than being open.
Talk to a stranger on your morning commute.
We’ve used the 2014 study by the Chicago Booth School of Business behind this suggestion in our events. It showed that people who speak to a stranger experience increased happiness, even eight hours later. And the strangers they talked to, at a staggering 100% of those questioned, reported also feeling happier.
The curious part is that the same people expected to feel better if they interacted with no-one on the morning train.
So, try this out, if you like.
And if you’re curious about the switch that gets switched in the human brain when we do this, there’s a really cool hypothesis about that.
But that’s perhaps for another day/event/post.
If you try this, and you’d like to let me know how it goes, or experiment with this together with a buddy (since that’s what Habitmakers is about), then follow/register/dm me and I’ll get you set up.
In happiness
Tim