I'm not feeling like being too serious this Monday. It doesn't suit my mood. Before going on, AC put up a companion post on the discussion that Winton and I were having earlier on whether or not Europeans were sadder - A sad, sad post. Its a very good post.
So leaving that aside, what are the things in your life that were unexpected, that you remember all those years later? I have many. I suspect that you do too!
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One time, I ended up with a public service boss who was more pirate than bureaucrat. He broke rules and expectations and did new things. It was a revelation that working could be doing, learning and fun all at the same time.
I wonder what became of him. :)
I never really intended to become a lawyer. Or an academic. My children are the unexpected joy of my life.
Oh dear, 2T. He still believes all that and keeps trying! One of the things I don't understand with some current managers is that they complain about managing people. I love managing people, but can't do it now to any great degree. You do things through your people and you learn from them.
LE, those are just the words I have used many times.They are a joy even in difficult times.
The influence of philosophers and authors on happiness is very interesting. I wonder about the influence on me of reading several books books by Jean Paul Satre. On reflection, I think the main impact was probably to make me avoid giving the appearance of being overly satisfied with life.
The issue I raised in my post had to do particularly with old people. I suspect most of the influence of authors and philosophers would be on relatively young people. Perhaps some of those influences carry through life and can be seen in cohort analysis. There is some of that in the World Happiness Report that I referred to, but I didn't find it particularly illuminating (possibly because I found it hard to understand).
The point you made about widowhood etc might well be correct, Jim, but I suspect that the influence of WW2 must have just about worked its way through the system.
In my case it was Dostoefsky and Tolstoy. Seriously, I do think that there differences between cultures that affect perception. Then, when I first went to Europe, I found the sense of history oppressive to a degree. The impact of the war continues, as do later events. The war just didn't finish, but continued to have impact through later events.
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