blurb - oder auch: Klappentext

I love reading the blurb of books. I don't really want to compare it with management summaries of presentations as - like in my job - they don't necessarily tell you exactly what you were looking for. Nevertheless, the concept is the same: You get the key information of a larger set of slides and pages at one glance, without telling the whole story or giving away too much. And still - at least for books, not so much for management summaries of boring financial presentations - you want to read more, understand the background, and impatiently wait for the happy end (which the blurb has already indicated...).

So why did I start a blog? About happiness? Why three words? Why and english title and then german blog entries?

A friend of mine who moved about 5500miles east inspired me to start this blog. After a long time with only emails and short messages, we talked for about an hour and both enjoyed the time on the phone, exchanging important and not-so-important information. One question he asked sticked in my mind: Are you happy? And what is it that makes you happy? I was surprised, just a few days earlier I started adding happiness thoughts to a little book that sits on my night stand. Right before I go to sleep, I think about the best situations of the day and just add them to that little book. If it was a really hard or sad day it sometimes only says 'sun was shining'. Or I flip through the previous entries and try to remember that smell, or the look on someone's face in a certain situation. That makes me feel better. And it makes me sleep better. And wake up happier. And those three are already a good start to a new day full of happiness.

So I told my friend all about it - and now he laughed in surprise. He told me that he started the same habit with his wife: Before they go to sleep, they will tell each other what they liked best during that particular day. Like parents ask their children before they go to sleep.

Well, and you can imagine what came next: after I told other people about the little book or my friends' habit, they as well shared their happiness-habits. That is what inspired me to start a blog. 

I want to share some happiness thoughts and hope to inspire others. Like flipping through the pages of my little book I hope this blog will bring a smile to other people. And of course, I can flip through it myself whenever I need some cheering-up.

Oh.. there was one more thing to mention: Why english, why German? I was born and raised in Germany. A few years ago my company offered to move me to Phoenix, Arizona for a two-year assignment. So I worked and lived there - which for me was a very rich experience in collecting little happiness stories. You might read about a them from time to time in this blog. Ever since I love writing in English, but still German is my native language. Sometimes it is just easier and faster to write about my thoughts in German. However, as I also want to share my thoughts with my english speaking friends, I might switch languages... Let me know if you need a translation :)

And thanks for reading this... quite long... blurb. 

Christiane.