Category Archives: happy

la casita pacifica.

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at last

I’ve moved into my new home

I’m going to call it

la casita pacifica

(the tiny peaceful house)

near the river, the flowers, the woods, the town, the family

“i’m really quite simple. i plant flowers and watch them grow…

I stay at home and watch the river flow.”

-george harrison

ups and downs.

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you know that feeling

when you fall down

on the trampoline

and keep trying to get up

but everyone keeps jumping

and you keep bouncing

and then all of you

start belly-laughing

and keep belly-laughing

and cannot stop?

 

“life has its ups and downs, but you can only look forward.”

-frank lowy

happiness expert.

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the following job title popped up on my alumni website

and made me curious to learn just what a ‘happiness expert’ is exactly.

now that I know, I think that my definition is a very different one

though you can never have too much happiness.

 

Happiness Expert

Full-Time Position
Description

We do more than just provide a software product to our campus partners. We provide a full experience to ensure their happiness and success, and you’ll be right there with them along the way as their own personal expert.

What You’ll Do:

  • Develop a lasting rapport with our campus partners, from coordinators to directors, deans to vice presidents, and beyond
  • Learn the unique needs and challenges of each campus that you work with and develop strategies that are centered around our solutions to address them
  • Manage the orientation process for campuses using our frameworks and learning outcomes, while infusing your own unique experiences
  • Help out our Happiness Allies by responding quickly and accurately to inbound conversations from our campus partners to answer their questions, complete with plenty of emojis and GIFs
  • Efficiently solve problems that users encounter by recreating them in a test environment
  • Ensure the quality and functionality of our software by completing user testing of new features, enhancements, and bug fixes (you’ll be the first to see all of the cool new stuff we’re building!)
  • Facilitate customer growth and success by staying up-to-date on current trends in higher education.
  • Created with Passion by Former Practitioners – We help student affairs professionals and student leaders on college and university campuses across the world create better communities, campus cultures, and student experiences. As former student affairs professionals and involved student leaders, we have a deep understanding of the industry and its most chronic problems. We’ve lived them! We’re growing fast, and would love your help making it happen!
Qualifications- You just might be our next Happiness Expert, if:

You have:

• Worked on campus as a student leader
• An intimate understanding of, and passion for, our software and the problems it solves
• An affinity for all things technology. You love to be the first to try out shiny new software
• An uncanny ability to develop and maintain relationships with your new best friends (aka our partner institutions)
• The desire and ability to work with all types of people, both on your team and with our campus partners

And you:

• Are a great listener, challenge the industry status quo, and question everything
• Have an open mind — you love trying new things, generating new ideas, and don’t mind failing
• Get excited by meeting and talking to new people, building relationships, and helping out
• Have an exceptional eye for organization in everything that you do
• Regularly self-reflect, practice self-awareness, self-motivation, and setting strategy
• Take joy and pride in setting and exceeding goals
• Are excited to push our growth forward!

“some cause happiness wherever they go,
some cause happiness whenever they go.”
-oscar wilde

welcome.

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grandie j welcomes the summer rain 

on a hot day in detroit

 

‘like a welcome summer rain, 

humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you.”

– langstpn hughes

you never forget.

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how fun it was

to see two very different adults

each alone

riding their shopping carts

through the parking lot

one as I made my way into the store

one as I made my way out

both were full of glee.

 

 

“it’s like learning to ride a unicorn.

you never forget.”

-eoin colfer

 

image credit:carriagetrade.org

passion.

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credits: elephant journal, buzz feed

 

 

who?

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ireland, summer 2016


opera.

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when dropping off donations

at the local salvation army

i was met by

friendly, happy workers

  who have struggled

 had challenges in their lives

listening to opera music

it clearly brought a lot of joy to them

 there was no way to avoid

getting taken in by the music.

“everybody is always in the middle of their own opera.”

-greta gerwig

lottery.

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i stopped to fill up with gas

and grab a cup of coffee

when heading out of town

and home once more.

as i paid and told

the very happy and chatty clerk

to have a good day

he glanced across the street

at the beautiful view he sees each day

and thanked me for reminding him

because every day was good

and especially today

because today was the day

that he was going to win the lottery

but somehow i thought that he already had.

“i count myself lucky,

having long ago won a lottery paid to me 

in seven sunrises a week for life.”

~robert brault

happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination. – immanuel kant

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and i am very happy today

as i imagine

this is what it looks like outside.

and then i will go outside.

and i will keep imagining.

and in a few months

it will look like this

and then i will

praise the power

of the imagination

for making things come true.