Having a "diary of happiness" will help you live better

 Life under the pandemic cloud had taken its toll on me. Some of my friends had vanished, leaving me sad. Disappointments about the way my government responded to the pandemic made me a resentful person.

The people around me had noticed these emotional changes. My husband asked me if I could complain less, since he took the worst part of my frustration. I began to see that I was turning into a caricature of a sad person that I didn't want to be.

My lack of pleasure really hit me when my family was on vacation on a road trip. I usually love to travel, but on this particular occasion, while looking out the window at the beautiful landscape of northern Arizona, I realized that I didn't feel anything. Intellectually, I could see the reasons for feeling pleasure, but the feelings themselves were not there.

After searching the Internet and self-diagnosing for a mild case of anhedonia (the inability or decrease in the ability to feel pleasure), I came across a blog post that recommended keeping a "day of pleasure." I was intrigued. I have been keeping a diary since I was 10 years old, so writing a few lines about the things of my day that caused me joy seemed feasible.

For several months, I have kept a daily record of all the things, big and small, that have given me delight, satisfaction and joy. I have recorded sensory experiences (the smell and taste of my morning coffee), emotional impulses (reveiling an old friendship), funny incidents (the funny nonsense of my ten-year-old son) and delights that defy categorization, such as the surprise I took when a lizard crossed my path on a morning walk. Even something as mundane as a hot shower or singing to the sound of the radio becomes part of my diary.

Writing in this way has given rise to some ideas. On the one hand, it has been an interesting exercise in affirmation. As a nutritionist and writer about food, my adoration of food makes me feel convinced that I am on the right track in terms of my career. Not a day goes by without you recording the glories of a well-fitted salad or the crunch of the roasted cauliflower. To return to the roots of why I chose my job is to resurface at a level of pleasure that was buried under the day-to-day life.

In fact, I have discovered the inexhaustible source found in easily accessible activities such as listening to music, enjoying a great novel or hugging my children. It's a beautiful revelation.