re-visiting happiness

I have learned a lot about happiness and home through our reading of Deep Economy and class discussions thus far in the semester. Before reading Deep Economy I thought that I lived in a close knit neighborhood, but after a class discussion we had about whether or not we knew our neighbors I realized that maybe I do not live in this picture perfect community I once thought I did. I realized that just because the outsides of the houses are nice within a community that does not mean the people inside those nice houses match their homes pretty exterior. Before reading Deep Economy I had never had the interest in traveling overseas, but after reading about the close knit communities in Europe it is now something that I would love to experience. Before reading Deep Economy I always knew that material things can not bring someone true happiness, but after reading Deep Economy, McKibben helped me further my understanding as to why I feel the way I do. Through reflection I learned that it is human interaction that makes me happy and not solely the events and activities I partake in that involve human interaction. I have discovered that home is not always the place one goes to sleep every night, but that it is also where one feels most at ease and comfortable. Reading Deep Economy has made me think of new ways to boost the economy that I had never heard of before, such as communities with their own forms of currency. Reading this book and being a part of this class has really opened up my mind to new concepts that I once thought I had all figured out.