Give up on happiness. Go hard at wonder | Monica Parker for Big Think+

Pathologically busy people clamoring for happiness. Founder of HATCH Monica Parker explains how we can do so much better than that.

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The pursuit of happiness is unrealistic. Seek this other emotion, instead.

Monica Parker, founder of HATCH and author of “The Power of Wonder,” says our world is utterly obsessed with happiness. We have so many types of initiatives – self-help books, programs, and even careers – centered around achieving happiness that we’ve reached toxic levels of positivity. This is a problem, as it forces us to interpret our experiences through a single – often overrated – emotional lens.

Instead, we should pursue wonder, which is neither wholly positive nor wholly negative. Parker likens the feeling of wonder to watching a butterfly emerge from a chrysalis – it is beautiful, complex, and even a little scary. This profound mix of awe, curiosity, and fear, is something that, when achieved, can expand our resilience and deepen our interpretation of the world around us.

The key to wonder? Slowing down. Parker explains that tuning into our three types of “wonderbringers” – natural, social, and cognitive – and incorporating “slow thought” activities into our lives, can help us be more receptive to wonder and the benefits it provides. By abandoning the pursuit of happiness and filling our days with things that spark wonder, that aren’t entirely based on positivity, and that fuel our curiosity and our passions, we can overcome our emotional barriers and live truly fulfilling, wonder-full lives.

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About Monica Parker:

Monica C. Parker is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller The Power of Wonder and a world-renowned speaker, writer, and authority on the future of work. Parker has spent decades helping people discover how to lead and live wonderfully. She is the founder of global human analytics and change consultancy HATCH whose corporate clients include blue-chip companies such as LinkedIn, Google, Prudential, and LEGO, and whose education clients include the Harvard Flourishing Network, NYU, Emory University, and Highlights for Children.

In her work, weaving together psychology and neuroscience with business strategy and leadership training, Parker challenges organizational systems to advocate for more meaningful work lives. Her specialisms includes topics like resiliency, empathy, ethics, trust, creativity, curiosity, learning, emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and leadership, among others.

In addition to her extensive advocacy work, Parker has been an opera singer, a museum exhibition designer, a policy director, and a homicide investigator defending death row inmates. A lover of the arts, literature, and Mexican food, Parker and her family split their time between Atlanta, London, and Nice. Her wonderbringers include travel, time spent with friends, and live music.