Happiness discovered: My Year of the Kalanchoe

Let me begin by saying that I did not start off searching for happiness. I thought happiness lay in big events: a promotion at work, a mind-blowing job offer, high scores in my French exam, a vacation in Las Vegas.

Little did I know, then, that happiness could be found in discovering a long-forgotten tune, an old recipe that turned out perfect, a church with sunbeams streaming through the skylight, a musty library with leather-bound tomes or a memorable post that Facebook prompted me to remember.

It took me a long while to understand that happiness could be designed, if I looked for it in the right places.

Where it began 

My quest for different kinds of happiness began during the months of the pandemic lockdown when long hours turned into lonely days with little else to do than finding ways to make the days go by and trying to stay safe. 

The novelty of watching Netflix after work and during lunch hours had long waned, the relief at not having to brave the traffic to go to the office had passed, the delights of online home food delivery had turned transient and the effort to look well-groomed for Zoom meetings had finally seemed pointless. 

Those were the days when I delved into everything I could read on happiness. I read every book that promised insights into the subject. I checked out new research on happiness in my library. I listened to podcasts endlessly and scoured the Internet for everything I could find on how to be happy and make your days better.

As the pandemic raged on, I read blogpost after blogpost on people who discovered new recipes, new crafts, new forms of expressing themselves. I read about AI-powered fashion shows, virtual museum tours, and armchair journeys across the world. New words were coined, new philosophy was touted, new novels were written by dozen.

But I had not found my route to daily happiness.

What was I missing?

I found myself wondering... why was I not trying my hand at art and crafts, or penning the next Booker-worthy novel or finding joy in virtual anything.

It took time, and as the months went by I began to make more discoveries. 

Happiness, I realized, had to be designed, consciously and carefully by me. 

It was the only way to make each day golden, no matter what I was feeling. And while I could allow myself to be sad or gloomy or introspective according to my changing environment, I could add a little something by design, to make my day pop with colour and somewhere along the way, find a ray of happiness.

So, I began with the Kalanchoe.

Some of my Kalanchoe plants (now not in bloom) on my balcony

For those who may not know the Kalanchoe, also written Kalanchöe or Kalanchoë, this is a beautiful flowering plant that can grow both outdoors and indoors. 

A bit of research showed me that there were over 125 species of the Kalanchoe, and these tropical, succulent plants are native to Madagascar and tropical Africa. It has dense waxy leaves that are deep green in the sunlight and when the flowers arrive in clusters, in hues as varied as red, pink, orange, yellow and white, these plants can add a new dimension to any garden. 

It was mid-winter, the perfect time for the Kalanchoe to bloom, so I placed an order from an online plant nursery. When the pots of flowers arrived at my doorstep, flushed from the sun in gorgeous, heart-breaking colour, I knew I had just designed my first step into happiness.

Soon my balcony was aflame with the beauty of the Kalanchoe in all kinds of colours. 

All through that cold winter and gentle days of summer that followed, these plants brought me many moments of happiness. Every time I looked at them, I would feel different kinds of joys. At times, they would transport me via my imagination and in my mind's eye, I would see the flowers lighting a vibrant path in the wilds of Africa. Sometimes, they would add a special brightness to a rainy morning. 

On other days, I would gaze at them and wonder about the Creator of these achingly beautiful blooms. On other days, I would get down to some more research on where this flower was first found and when it was brought to other lands. 

And sometimes, they did nothing but stand tall and sparkling and lovely, as my own testament to discovering happiness.

Simple ways to design happiness

I am not trying to say that a flower can change a life or your circumstances, but you can design moments of happiness for yourself, just taking the time to discover new things. It could be as diverse as finding a new plant, reading an old poem, buying a first edition book, or savouring a bottle of vintage wine. It makes all the difference between just going through the motions of a day to enriching a day.

Join me in my moments of discovery, as I discover and design my own path of happiness.

The Kalanchoes are only the beginning. 

Essayist, poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau once said: Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will elude, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder."

My butterfly did not alight on my shoulder, but there was no need to chase it either. I found that it had to be discovered, slowly via trial and error, as you go through each day. Sometimes I get it wrong, and a new discovery drives me to despair and irritability. But it is the journey that counts and that is what I love.

Take a moment to explore the world.

Like me, it may take you to joys beyond the Kalanchoe.

#happiness #happinessjourney #kalanchoe