The Republic of Happy

Turns out one of the side effects of more optimism is less desire and time to post blogs on optimism. This week, anyway, I haven't felt the need to obsess on it quite as much.
Wednesday, I wrote about the positive things happening in our lives--the book, the increase in student referrals. So there's that, taking some formerly free time.
Then, as Mike's new paycheck becomes stabilized (we had to do some adjusting for taxes) and as we negotiate with the banks on our college loan payments, it's beginning to look like we won't go down the tubes right away, at least. A year from now, things might be different. But at least temporarily, we can pay our electricity, mortgage and heat and still have some left over for groceries. Scary though it may be, it looks like we can put that worry aside for now and concentrate on improving our income outlook for when those loan forbearances expire.
The end result: I haven't been as focused on seeking out optimism this week. As a result, I find I've missed a potentially good TV special about optimism and Michael J. Fox.
Fox, whom everyone surely knows has had Parkinson's Disease for about 20 years, hosted a show called Adventures of an Incurable Optimist on ABC. And no, it wasn't just another maudlin show about beating the odds on the disease. It was something deeper. Fox interviewed people--sick and well, celebrities and ordinary, American and from other countries--about the nature of optimism.
At least I think that's what was on it. That's what the various Internet reports said. I don't watch much network TV, so missed any promos mentioning it. At this point, I haven't been able to find a scheduled repeat or any sign of it on Hulu or YouTube.
It sounded interesting, though. If it clued me in on ways to be more reliably happy, I'd watch it with the recorder on and notebook in hand. Fox also has a book Always Looking Up, on the same theme, which I hadn't heard of. It will be a while before I can review it here, though, because I'm 154th in the library's queue (we're on a budget, remember?).
One interesting thing I picked up from reading the online accounts: The Himalayan country of Bhutan has an state policy on happiness. In every decision, the government of Bhutan must consider whether it's action will promote the happiness of its people. So if traffic lights, for example, frustrate the populace, the government goes back to a human traffic cop instead. (BBC slide show report here)
Here's the interesting, yet ironic thing. Bhutan only allowed television and the Internet into the country in 1999. Apparently, it's rulers felt these media were not sufficiently happiness-inducing.
Can't say that I disagree. But it means they would have missed Fox's special on optimism.
I don't know how Bhutan arrives at it's views on what is or isn't happiness inspiring. I suppose it helps if you have a monarchy. It's been 10 years now. I'd like to know how access to reality television and the blogosphere have impacted the "Gross Domestic Happiness."
Ooh. I feel a grant proposal coming on.