Go West For Maximum Happiness?
Though I will be revealing the awesome, amazing, Tour-Of-Paris-Included LYLA (Love Your Life Again) DVD set soon, that’s not what we’re talking about today. Finally, something good to write about my geolocation. Though there is much good in the Golden State of California, the press usually has a heyday with our out of control actors (those in Hollywood and in government), budget shortfalls and commercial cannabis growing in Oaksterdam. But a social media based study just out today indicates that by and large, we’re happy with our lot. Chris Matyszczyk of “Technically Incorrect” explains, after which I have something to add:
Twitter finds West Coast is happier than East
People on the East Coast whine and socially climb until their entrails are mazes of envy, sleeplessness, and dubious mind-fooling substances. They look over their shoulders so much that their necks and minds are permanently twisted. And then there’s the weather.
Well, at least that was my personal experience when I lived in New York. And now it is largely supported by research performed by some very possibly whining and social-climbing researchers from Harvard and Northeastern universities.
These fine and troubled minds were determined to ascertain just how happy Americans are. And, because they needed to place their fingers upon every wrist of American humanity in order to be sure of its pulse, they turned to Twitter.
The New Scientist tells me that the hard-working researchers analyzed 300 million tweets to determine just when and where people are happiest and saddest in the United States.
What they found was, very unsurprisingly, that the the highly civilized, caring, relaxed, open-minded, very relaxed after lunch, prettier, and more delectable West Coast is “significantly happier” than the miserable gulag of greed that is the East.
I was just munching on this and thinking. The East Coast was set up to be a port of commerce to the then-known world. Its focus has always been on moving goods and people, the faster the better. The West Coast was the place where we looked for an alternative view, where we kept our forbidden dreams and secret desires. I’m not speaking in sexual terms, but in terms of what it would be like if we had a perfect life. “What if I just picked up and went west?” our ancestors used to think. “I’ve heard the good life is just out there for the taking!”
Similarly, the “Left Coast” has become known as a place to get your internal groove back, to quash your emotional hangups and live the good life in peace and plenty. Many who came crapped out quite literally, lost their homes, money, health. Many have returned in the last few years where they came from. But…that peace and plenty is still here. The study above may or may not prove it, but if you’re here and you don’t have your bliss on yet, then keep seeking. The thing you give AIR – Attention, Intention and Repetition – will come to you. Works every time. The key is persistence.
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