A Year of Complete Happiness?

Cathal Morrow has an interesting theory. "happy / unhappy are entirely unrelated," he writes, "happiness is a permanent state in us all, if we allow it to be."

He's testing his theory in a different sort of happiness project, called a year of complete happiness. His goal is to find the happiness that exists in every single moment, rather than continually seek happiness elsewhere. In a way, his project is very similar to Gretchen Rubin's, except his is a little more philosophical.

I can't help but wonder if Cathal is right. Is happiness a permanent state?

I've always believed that our permanent state is neutral, and it's up to our actions to boost ourselves up or down. But if Cathal is right, we ought to appreciate our "default settings" more.

Just for kicks, I'm posting a picture of the newest additions to my "cute" collection. My owl mug, and two kokeshi dolls. :)