The secret of community!

In the Keynote Addresses I do based on my book “Why Being Happy Matters”, I refer to the importance of community in sustaining happiness. Listen to what Dr. Robert Putnam of the Harvard Kennedy School says in his book "Bowling Alone": “We used to be joiners, now we’re not. We don’t embrace bowling leagues the way we used to. Church attendance is off. Book clubs, investment clubs and other gatherings of people into ‘communities’ have lost their allure as we replace pleasant pastimes with helter skelter lives aimed at achieving things, not enjoying things. The simple act of joining and being regularly involved in organized groups has a very significant, positive impact on individual health, well-being and happiness.”
There's no question that a sense of community is critically important in supporting individual happiness. So, with this in mind, do you know who tops the United Nations Annual World Happiness Report this year? (It's the ranking that measures countries around the world based on things like Income, Freedom, Trust, Healthy Life Expectancy, Social Support, Generosity. etc.) Who's #1 in 2020? Finland!
Yup. For the third year in a row, Finland is the happiest country in the world. Why? John Helliwell, an editor of the Annual World Happiness Report, explains: "It’s a measure of general satisfaction with life and, more important, the confidence that one lives in a place where people take care of one another." In other words, a real sense of community.
For all of is struggling to connect when we can no longer be a community due to COVID-19, let's find ways to have virtual communities. I know you'll be happy you did.

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