Issue #2  //  Happiness Multiplies  ✨

“Happiness is something that multiplies when it is divided.”

- Paulo Coelho

We’ve been having so much fun collecting the things that spark our interest or inspire us. Even (especially!) when we feel ragey or sad about the news and life’s challenges, we look for the things that give us hope, make us laugh, and light us up. We’re in the habit of messaging them to each other, and it’s lovely to have a way to share them with you! We’re excited to have this newsletter as a happiness multiplier.

We’d love for you to get in on this practice, too! If an article, song, tweet, etc. in this vein catches your attention, hit reply and share it with us.

We’d also love your feedback on the first couple of issues (as well as on the podcast) and what you’d like to see. You all have had fabulous ideas so far, many of which we’ve already incorporated, with more to come!

Love,

Melia & Gillian 💕

🎙 Latest Episode: #14 - How to Deal with Regrets & Should-Haves

We both spend a lot of time dwelling on regrets, those small and large “should-haves” that haunt us. But research shows that obsessing over mistakes and missteps can have a negative impact on our mood, sleep and behavior.

We discuss how regrets show up in our lives and the five-step process we're trying to practice to cope with them.

• Listen to the episode and read the show notes
• More on this topic: “6 Steps to Turn Regret Into Self-Improvement” by Jennifer Taitz

👉 Steal This Tip: Try the mantra "You are safe."

From Melia: If you’re feeling anxious or overwhelmed, close your eyes, put your hands over your heart, breathe deeply, and repeat the mantra (silently or out loud), “You are safe.” This is my go-to technique to calm myself down and get my brain back when my mind is racing.

👋 ICYMI

Episode #9: Change Your Environment to Change Your Habits 🎙

“What looks like a person problem is often a situation problem,” write Chip and Dan Heath in their excellent book Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard. Instead of asking, “How can I change myself to fix this problem,” try, “How can I change this situation to fix this problem?”

Get our roundup of tips to help you change your environment to build good habits (scroll to Steal This Tip).

😄 Things We Text Each Other

via The Onion

From Gill: 

I'm obsessed with all stories related to fraud right now. The college bribery scandal (Aunt Becky, how could you?!), the Fyre Festival and now... Theranos. I binged The Dropout podcast and am now halfway through the audiobook of John Carreyrou's Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. We were talking about all of this in the ongoing WhatsApp chat we have with our husbands:

😍 Stuff We Love Right Now

On the Interwebs  🖥

• An Amy Poehler movie about friendship set in a California wine town? Yes, yes and yes! Watch the trailer for Wine Country a dozen times like we did. Then read about how the movie is based on a real-life trip to Sonoma County, not Napa (point of pride).   
• You don't have to be a prodigy. Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement, by Forbes magazine publisher Rich Karlgaard, is next up on our reading list. Karlgaard talks about the value of exploration vs. competitive pressure – and how finding your way later in life can lead to lasting happiness and success.
• Be vulnerable if you want to be brave. We both love Brené Brown so so much. She's not only a badass researcher on shame and vulnerability (her TED Talk on The Power of Vulnerability is one of the most-watched of all time), but she's also a natural storyteller who's relatable and laugh-out-loud funny. Her new Netflix special, The Call to Courage, is full of stories about choosing to live wholeheartedly, which requires being vulnerable and stumbling along the way. 
• Read this when you're anxious. During an intensely rough patch in his life, Adam J. Kurtz wrote down the words of calm and encouragement that he needed to hear. He collected these handwritten instructions into a book called Things Are What You Make of Them: Life Advice for Creatives.   

In Our Ears  🎧

• Phoebe Robinson and Jameela Jamil Stop Being Polite (Sooo Many White Guys podcast): Jameela Jamil shares why she's so passionate and outspoken about body image positivity for women (follow i_weigh on Instagram). She also tells an insanely funny story about her audition for the role of Tahani on The Good Place. 
• Just Got Paid by Sigala, Meghan Trainor and Ella Eyre (upbeat song from Gill's Zumba class) 

On Our Plates  🍽

• Foolproof pan pizza (like Pizza Hut childhood memories but better)
• Creamy coconut rice pudding (great for folks who are dairy-free; you can sub almond milk for cow’s milk)

Until next time! 😘😘

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