"It's easier to act your way into a new way of thinking, than think your way into a new way of acting." ~ Jerry SternimIn Melbourne, Australia, November means 'Spring Carnival' horse racing and this also means fashion and hats. This time is exciting and catching. Many people beam with joy and many who go to the track never see a horse. They go for the fashion. One cannot watch from the sidelines for real happiness, as the late Chris Peterson states, "Happiness is not a spectator sport". It's about joining in, trying things and doing. Fashion for many is exactly that, getting right into the midst of it and making the fashion stakes a hobby. Many labored over their hats and outfits for months, hoping to win or to just simply be part of a contagious time in Spring. A whole fashion industry is supported through the races in Australia. For me personally, this time also means "Hats for Happiness". Some of you might be aware of the Little Hat Project, which this year raised over $7,000 for Australian mental health initiatives. Pictures of the auctioned hats and their accompanying touching stories will very soon be made into a beautiful book. We hope you will join us for the book launch on Thursday 4th Dec in Richmond, Melbourne at the Precinct Hotel. Or, if you like, participate in the Little Hat Project for 2015. Anyone can be part of it!Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness, says that for some people interventions, techniques or approaches work well and have an immediate and lasting impact, whereas for others they may do nothing at all. One has to try to know. Many people have done just that by opening their hearts and making and sending a hat from as far as the USA, England, China and many parts of Australia.I also have found that my own happiness has increased over the years because of hats - by handing on the skills of hat-making, and through creating projects around the hat. I have found the more I provide space for others, the more I gain in wellbeing. The more I lend a hand the more hands reach out to me. There was a time I was 'thinking' about happiness, now I have come to learn that to act is to create happiness. Warm Thoughts,Waltraud.
