A Field Guide to Happiness: What I Learned in Bhutan about Living, Loving and Waking Up - Softcover

Linda Leaming

3.92

354 ratings by Goodreads

9781781802854: A Field Guide to Happiness: What I Learned in Bhutan about Living, Loving and Waking Up

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1781802858 ISBN 13: 9781781802854

Publisher: Hay House India, 2014

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Language: English
Pages: 356
About the Author

LINDA LEAMING is a writer whose work has appeared in Psychologies, Mandala, The Guardian, A Woman's Asia (Travelers' Tales) and many other publications. Eric Weiner included her in his bestseller The Geography of Bliss. Originally from Nashville, she has an MFA in fiction from the University of Arizona; and she regularly speaks about Bhutan at colleges, churches, seminars and book groups. She is married to the renowned Bhutanese thangka painter Phurba Namgay.

Introduction

When I was a kid, I played a board game, Careers, which I never won. And I played a lot. In it, players have to set their own goals for winning by allocating a certain number of points, 60 in all, to a combination of fame, money, or happiness. Most people divide the points evenly and give 20 points to each. Every time I played I put all my points, all 60 of them, on happiness. I didn't care about fame or money. I stubbornly refused to do otherwise, even when my friend's older brother explained that this made it statistically a lot harder to win. It didn't bother me that it was hard—nearly impossible. It's always been about happiness for me. I was a sensitive, possibly moody child: determined, some might say inflexible. Eventually I figured out putting all your points on happiness is a terrible strategy for winning a board game, but it turns out to be a pretty interesting strategy for life.

While my peers in college went for MBAs, I got a degree in philosophy and then in the early '80s an MFA in writing because they made me happy. In the mid '90s, I traveled across Europe and Asia, and eventually made my way to Bhutan, a tiny Buddhist country in the Himalayas, known to be a very beautiful and a very

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Linda Leaming is a writer whose work has appeared in Ladies' Home Journal, Mandala, Guardian UK, A Woman's Asia (Travelers' Tales), and many other publications. Eric Weiner included her in his bestseller, The Geography of Bliss. Originally from Nashville, she has an M.F.A. in fiction from the University of Arizona; and she regularly speaks about Bhutan at colleges, churches, seminars, and book groups. She is married to the renowned Bhutanese thangka painter, Phurba Namgay. www.lindaleaming.com

Review:

Now, you've gone and done it, Linda Leaming. This book has impelled me to add a whole new country to my already-overflowing bucket list. But either way, I'm grateful for this most excellent field guide to happiness. Thank you, my fellow traveller, for sharing the love. -- Pam Grout, #1 New York Times bestselling author of E-Squared and E-Cubed Linda Leaming writes with a sweetness and an earned wisdom that goes down as smoothly as a good cup of tea. She is also very funny. If you are alive, or would like to be, read her A Field Guide to Happiness and find joy on every page. -- Eric Weiner, author of The Geography of Bliss Linda Leaming offers us a fresh perspective of embracing life's challenges while pursuing our dreams. Delivered with down-to-earth wisdom and intelligent humour, A Field Guide to Happiness takes us on a Himalayan journey to Bhutan while never veering far from the heart. -- Matteo Pistono, author of Fearless in Tibet and In the Shadow of the Buddha With Bhutan as a backdrop, Linda Leaming's intimate offering of life lessons in A Field Guide to Happiness encourages deep exploration in our own interior landscapes. This gem of a book is an invitation to know we have all we need to surrender in the arms of joy, and measure our aliveness with heartfelt connection instead of speed and productivity. Read it slowly and savour each morsel. -- Nancy Levin, bestselling author of Jump... And Your Life Will Appear

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