This might be the best way to Love Where You Live
In earlier posts, we discussed the best places to live. In particular, these places were towns or cities in Rhode Island or Massachusetts. This week we explore the more philosophical discussion of how to love where you live or move to follow your bliss.
Of course, in thinking about how to love where you live or move, first we have to consider where we are right now. With this in mind, we found an article explaining just how to get comfortable with it, wherever it is. To enumerate:
5 Simple Ways to Get Started Loving Where You Live
- Set yourself a challenge. When we lived in Boston, we decided we were going to try as many burger places as we could. …
- Join your local library. I say library because I love books, but it could be a gym or a church or playgroup or a running club. …
- Host a party. …
- Invite friends or family to visit. …
- Look beyond your neighborhood.
So, how’s that working for you? Are you any happier? Possibly you have already tried some of the things mentioned above and still feel outside of the happy place. If so, then unless you see yourself joining a meditation group to sit with it a little longer, you might just be ready to move.
Topophilia: that warm feeling you get from a place
On that note, the question of happiness during a pandemic seems somewhat absurd. But the meaning of the place we live has most certainly become apparent, now more than ever. Which leads us to a person who has spent some time tackling the the questions of meaning and happiness. His name is Arthur Brooks and he writes a column for the Atlantic titled “How to Build A Life”
Apparently, Mr. Brooks suggests that if you’re not living where you love, and you have the resources to make a change, it could do wonders for your happiness.
There is a word for love of a place: topophilia, popularized by the geographer Yi-Fu Tuan in 1974 as all of “the human being’s affective ties with the material environment.” This describes the warm feeling you get from a place.
Indeed, the upheaval we have currently experienced and the displacement of so many brings a more profound meaning to the place we call home. Brooks goes onto explain that as the economy has changed and many jobs can be performed remotely, you might find more geographic flexibility than you ever had before.
Furthermore, “moving” is relative. For some, the topophilic ideal—or the only financially manageable option, under current circumstances—might be to a neighborhood just across town. Smaller moves mitigate social costs as well as economic costs, and could still provide happiness benefits. Perhaps the other neighborhood has more space, or is closer to loved ones—or maybe it just has nicer rain.
That brings us to The Dias Team! YAY! We are here to help you find your happy place. Just take a deep breath and click this link to start the journey.
To read more on How To Build A Life click here.