Less than two years after finishing graduate school, I found myself enrolling in what may be my most unique class to date: a course called “manage happinessled by Harvard University professors, Arthur Brooks.
As a health reporter, I’ve noticed that people can’t help being drawn to articles about well-being. This is something we all want to know and experience as much as possible. After all, being happy seems to go a long way toward increasing our chances of living a long life.
But most of us struggle to understand how to maintain it—and this Harvard course will hopefully shed some light on that dilemma.
The online modules are free for audit only until March 27, 2024 and will cost $229 for a verified certificate from the University. This is a self-paced course, but must be completed within six weeks if you do not want to lose access to its material and the progress you have made.
In the first week, I already had a lot of questions.
Here’s What I Wish I’d Learned From Harvard’s Free Happiness Course
The class tagline, “Happiness is in your control. Write your own ending,” leads me to this main question, which I’m sure we all have: Are we in complete control of our happiness?
At the end of my six weeks as a “Harvard student”, other questions I hope to have answered, or at least gain more insight into, are:
- How often should we experience happiness?
- Is it realistic to expect to feel happy all the time?
- How do we prioritize happiness without falling into the realm of toxic positivity?
- If our happiness is about our experiences, especially those around us, how can we protect it when Dealing with difficult people?
- How can we cultivate a sense of well-being during difficult times in our lives?
I look forward to sharing what this course has taught me and hopefully getting some answers to these questions of mine. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be a little happier in the end.
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