Happy Human Handbook Podcast: Recent Episodes
Jennifer White
your simple (and sometimes serious) guide to the complex (and often funny) business of embodying our humanity in this crazy and beautiful world we all share
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” :: e.e. cummings
www.happyhumanhandbook.com
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
You’ve seen the commercials—with the oh-so-happy people who “asked their doctor if…” They took the pill and found relief from their immediate symptoms, even though it may have resulted in nosebleeds, uncontrollable farts, and poor fashion sense. Ferreting out the root causes of our discomfort might not be as easy, but it’s what helps us achieve genuine health and wellbeing and what gets us nice, not nasty, side effects. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
In our traditional western medical culture (and in the rest of society) we’re pretty hip on keeping the mind and the body, and ourselves and nature, separate from each other. But, these days were are becoming more and more aware of the very real and tangible connection between all of those systems, and the way in which those relationships impact our health or tendency toward disease. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
Raise your hand if find yourself falling into the trap of “I’ll be happy when…” Where the “success” you thought you needed to be happy, to feel really and finally good about yourself and your life, is always just beyond your reach. Well what if, with some awareness and practice, you could learn to strike a balance between the aspiration to reach your potential and the recognition of the potential happiness in THIS moment. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
Like elephants at a dinner party, life can often bring us things that are unexpected. And, in those unexpected moments, of rapture or pain, we can choose what we focus on and we can keep our hearts aimed at our potential. So screw happy—let’s figure out how to live and thrive with more integrity and make the world a better place while we’re at it.
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
What if I told you there was one thing that you could do that would make the challenges in your life easier to bear, while also allowing you to extract more joy from each moment? Would you try it? Considering the potential benefits, might you even commit yourself to practicing it once in a while —much like you might have once rehearsed the clarinet or your tennis swing or whatever that thing is that makes you good at your job? Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
We don’t have to let go of all of our opinions and agree on everything. I know, fat chance. Right? We don’t even really need to like each other (though, that might be nice.) We just need to respect each other enough to see that a liveable future is essential to all of us, no matter what we might still be arguing about when we get there. But—to ensure we arrive, let’s go together. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
Are you living your life like you are rowing a boat—moving forward, but always looking backward? Clinging to the well-worn grooves of our past comes at a cost—as we give into inertia we sacrifice adventure, growth, innovation, and the chance to evolve beyond ourselves and discover something outside the bounds of our sometimes-limited imaginations. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
These days, unless you write greeting cards for a living, grown-up, serious people don’t say the “l-word.” At least not in public. But, no matter how you slice, it environmental sustainability is all about the love. Because regardless of what you “love” to do in the world—whether build skyscrapers, ride bikes, trade stocks, make quilts, or feed the homeless—you need the environment to get it done. Period. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
“People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they are not on your road does not mean they have gotten lost.” :: Jackson Browne
Every once in a while (and oftentimes when we least expect it) the sh*t in our lives hits the fan…and in a major, monumental, and earth-shattering way. When that happens we have two choices: fake that we’re fine and go it alone or share the burden of that load with our friends. Reaching out can feel risky, but it can also bring mutual benefit in our relationships and leave us free to focus on moving forward and rediscovering joy. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
One reason we don’t take action to make the world a better place is because we believe we could never make a difference. But another way to look at it is that when any one of us refuses to do what we can, we’re actually just being a weenie. The good news is that if we changed our minds and everybody did what they could, we’d shift the status quo. But “all of us” starts with ONE OF US. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
Okay, I’ll be honest—they aren’t all lists of 10, some are 7 or 9, or 100 (so sue me)—but despite the false advertising you’ll still find groovy suggestions and resources in the realms of: mindfulness, simplifying, happiness, wholehearted living, communication, health, diet, productivity, money, and climate change. It’s like one-stop shopping for a better you and a better world…how cool is that? Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
We all have a lot of run-of-the-mill deadlines in our lives that are rarely ever a matter of life and death. It’s okay to procrastinate on those until the minute before—but don’t put off following your heart. If there’s something you want to accomplish—something you want to share or do or say—you’d better get on it. Don’t wait. Because, for every single one of us, mortality is the ultimate deadline. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
Learn more at the Happy Human Handbook
::your simple (and sometimes serious) guide to the complex (and often funny) business of embodying our humanity in this crazy and beautiful world we all share::
Learn How to Simplify
There are a lot of great resources out there for how to get back to basics and start simplifying, but here are a few of my recent favorites:
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, by Marie Kondo
Soulful Simplicity: How Living with Less Can Lead to So Much More, by Courtney Carver {Her approach covers more than conquering clutter, and includes topics such as food, work, and wellbeing. Check our her blog: Be More with Less}
Radical Simplicity: Small Footprints on a Finite Earth, by Jim Merkel {This is an old classic that covers stuff, money, and resource use—with lots of simple, practical, and sometimes radical, tools to try.}
When people insist they don’t need to sustain the environment because it doesn’t have anything to do with them, it makes me feel like I’m starring in an episode of The Emperor’s New Clothes. If we care about ourselves, our families, our aspirations, and the other folks we share the planet with, we must understand that caring about sustainability is essential, too—because sustainability has “everything” to do with you and me. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studio
We all love those endless blue-sky summer days that are perfect for picnics, bike rides, and lazy afternoons at the beach, but too much of a good thing is, well, not a good thing. When the world is so parched that farting in the forest is likely to start a wildfire, we need tools that both conserve and preserve water as the precious resource it is. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studio
You know...it's actually a miracle that any of us can manage to be happy at all these days. And, not necessarily because the state of the world is so terrible, but because the way we talk to ourselves inside of our own heads is so awful. If we can learn to replace that tired old narrative with one that builds us up, instead of breaks us down, then we might actually find ourselves being happier, in spite of ourselves. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studio
In our relationships, we are often operating within (and reacting to) a familiar old film from our history that keeps us disconnected from the present moment and locked into old patterns. Beginning to understand how these (over)dramatic scenes are formed, and what we can do to rewrite those scripts, can allow us to live and love more authentically right here and right now. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studio
Composting our food waste is an excellent way to decrease our personal contribution to both dwindling landfill space and the growing problem of greenhouse gas emissions. You know you've been saying you were going to do this for years--so, be brave and quit being a weenie—learn how give it a try this weekend. Read more…
Show Notes
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studio
Now What?
There are some great resources out there for how to reduce your personal impact on climate change, and below are a few places to start. (WARNING: Some are more nerdy than others.)
101 Ways to Fight Climate Change | By Patrick Sisson, Megan Barber, and Alissa Walker
Top 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming | Project Drawdown
Institute of Physics List of Most Effective Individual Steps to Tackle Climate Change , [Original article: "The Climate Mitigation Gap: Education and Government Recommendations vs. Effective Individual Actions" Wynes S and Nicholas K 2017 Environ. Res. Lett. 12 074024 , http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541]
Union of Concerned Scientists Ten Personal Solutions to Global Warming
Is the world out there in line with your vision and intentions? We may actually believe things should be different, better, and more just…but sometimes there are other, competing beliefs that prevent us from taking action. In order to get beyond this little quirk we need to turn over some stones to identify what we REALLY want, what we REALLY believe, and line our actions up with that. Read more…
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studio
Life can be (really, that is, in reality) hard enough--without making up all kinds of imagined hardships to worry about and react to. And as we walk through our lives we can literally decide what we attend to and what meaning we assign to what arises. So, what's a lifetime pessimist, or budding optimist, to do? Read more...
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
We spend a large percentage of our days, even the good parts, in another time and another place. We do this while playing with our children, eating a great meal, watching the sunset, making love. What that means is that we’re missing our lives—letting them pass us by. But that doesn't have to be the case. Read more...
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
Estimates are that at any point in time only 20% of us are actually ripe and ready for a new habit, so rather than a pocket full of change (or a life full of it) we sometimes just end up the next day doing the same old thing with some confetti in our underpants. Read more...
Podcast written by Jennifer White
Music & Production by Jimmy Sferes at Hummingbird Studios
What if the big business we were all in (and we are all in it) was the bold enterprise of humanity? How might the world be different if we dedicated our time and energy to the occupation of humankind, which is to say being fully human and genuinely kind? Read more...