“Crayons! Oh, this is going to be FUN!” “Whoopie! I LUV to color!” ” At 9:00am any session with crayons and candy talking about ‘Happiness’ can’t be all bad.”
These are just some of the many ‘happy’ remarks I heard as people took their seats in my session at the 37th Annual Troubled Youth Conference. My breakout session was one of six choices for 750 plus attendees. The title “Sustaining Happiness: What’s YOUR Happiness Recipe?” attracted over 150 adults to a full, standing room only and sitting on the floor, “this session is closed” sign outside of Ballroom #3 at Snowbird Resort.
The professionals in the room provide every service required to help our troubled youth get back on track to live more productive and happier lives. Their work is noble, honorable and needed. These adults, in high stress jobs, wanted to know more about their own personal recipe for happiness.
Imagine my surprise and happiness with the media validation when this week’s evening news reported the importance and relevance of coloring for adults. “Relax, be creative and reduce stress” are just some of the reasons being sited in this NBC News Report that coloring is making a comeback:
For me, in 25 years of keynotes and workshops on humor and happiness, coloring never left. And it has consistently been received with the same enthusiasm of this last session.”Ouuuu, Crayons! I KNEW this would be a FUN session!” The purpose and focus of coloring in my “Sustaining Happiness” workshop was for participants to think about and to identify who, what, where, when and how,” they are happy. Then, with a blank piece of paper, they were asked to color what makes them happy. “Color YOU Happy!” were their instructions.
Yes, ‘why’ was omitted on purpose and the ‘how’ referenced how do you honor or leave room for those things in your life that make you happy and bring you joy? The astonishing awareness is that most don’t. The revealing conversations and post-session hallway insights were remarkable.
“My wife has been telling me I am unhappy. After your session today, I think she may be right.”
“I couldn’t write down one thing that makes me happy,” said the woman who touched my arm to stop me, “How can I find my ‘happy’?”
We had an intimate and touching conversation right there, helping her to understand that it was a wake-up call to figure out her happiness recipe with some specific tips and techniques.
Here at the Center for Laughing and Learning, we take this humor and happiness thing VERY seriously and we are spreading it out to the world. Sandy Weaver Carmen and I co-host an international weekly radio show on http://www.happinessrecipe.net/happiness-recipe-radio/ and iTunes. The best of our first year’s interviews were complied into an Amazon #1 Best Selling Book called Happiness Recipe: Whippin’ up happiness with wit, wisdom and wonderful food. Our Happiness Recipe Community, which we invite you to join, has grown to include people in almost all 50 States and 42 Countries.
Even when just watching the news could make us want to crawl in to a hole, every now and then, we get a News nugget of lighter, relevant information such as coloring is making a comeback for adults to relax, relieve stress and increase creativity.
“June Cline, the last time I saw you speak was at least 20 years ago in a hotel near the Atlanta Airport. We colored in your class. I always remember that.” Yes, for me coloring never left!
Well color me happy! And, now, it’s your turn. Grab some crayons, a blank piece of paper and color YOU happy!
Let me know what that looks like! Heck, send me a picture. I’d love to know.