Anticipation Is Free Happiness
“Anticipation is such a valuable source of pleasure,” says Liz Dunn, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia, who has studied anticipation and happiness. Dunn and Mike Norton, both social psychologists who wrote the book Happy Money say that the period anticipation is free happiness. It doesn’t cost anything and yet it can add so much to an already happy experience/ event.
Children seem to be particularly good at getting pleasure out of counting down to birthdays, festivals and vacations — anticipating happy events!
When we have something to look forward to, no matter what our personal circumstances, that in itself can bring happiness before the actual event takes place.
As a writer or creator, we need to have creative projects to look forward to. I often find that the most self-declared bored people, don’t have enough things to look forward to in life. They’ve lost their sense of anticipation and in doing that robbed themselves of pleasure and happiness.
Have you found that anticipation can boost your appreciation and enjoyment of a project, a blog post, a writing challenge?
