happiness

Over at Salon.com, Alexandra Gelfenbein has written — "But Mom, what if I don't want to get married?" — about how one learns to be single in a sea of advice about how to get and keep a man. At 27, she's tempted to keep her Russian Jewish mother happy by continuing to date a nice Jewish lawyer who looks good on paper but leaves her cold every time she kisses him. Her mother likes to say things like, "And you wonder why you aren't married yet?" and give her lots of helpful advice, like that she shouldn't introduce any of her prettier friends to prospective suitors. (Oh, moms!)

Find yourself attracted to brooding, melancholy, Ethan-Hawke-in-Reality-Bites types? Or perhaps surly, swaggering Romeos? According to a new study reported by ScienceDaily — "Happy Guys Finish Last, Says New Study on Sexual Attractiveness" — you're far from alone.

I've spent the last year and a half traveling pretty consistently for work, and it's been thrilling. I've been to Greece, Hong Kong, Jamaica, India, Turks & Caicos, Mexico, Spain and a whole bunch of other amazing places. I have had my favourite leather boots stained by milk fresh from a goat on a mountaintop in Crete. I have received a deep tissue massage from a former Mr. Jamaica. I have written about a seemingly endless array of beauty treatments — from thalassotherapy to chocolate body wraps. And I have expanded my eating repetoire to include snake, turtle, crickets, ant eggs, gizzard and pretty much anything else that has been waved under my nose.

After studying the concept of happiness for some 15 years, Paul Frijters boils it down to a simple thought: stay away from things that make you unhappy. Here Frijters, a health economics professor at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, shares with us some candid thoughts about how we can be happier in our lives.

The other day, I finally made it to a much-needed appointment with a naturopath. After months of constant travel, periodic bouts with insomnia and an inconsistent diet that has relied far too heavily on pork products, my body was battling yet another lingering cold and was crying out for some TLC.