Happy Writer

I’ve read that writers are a depressed lot. We drink. We write horribly sad poems. We’re suicidal. It’s true–my favorite columnist (from ten years ago, 2000 miles from where I live now) said so, and Ray Orrock never steered me wrong. But he was a cheerful guy, and he gave me hope that the life I really, really wanted wouldn’t kill me any sooner than, say, accounting might.

So why not be happy?

I started a project unrelated to writing this week: a Happiness Project. But maybe it’s not unrelated. The idea is to think of things that make you happy, do them every day, and keep track of your progress month by month. If you’re part of a group, you report on your success to them. Familiar, no?

I will be happy. I will tie together happiness and writing and (this is key) accountability. Yay.