An Imaginary Interview
A Famous Interviewer sits down with Matt Tracy, author of Happy Here and Now, a self-help book, The Meaning of Life Coffee Shop, a fable about finding one’s way, and Darker Than the Sky, his new novel.
FI: Great to meet you. I enjoyed Happy Here and Now.
MT: Thanks. Happy Here and Now was the product of a lifelong passion of mine. For years, I wrote down tidbits of lessons as I learned them, hoping to make them into a book one day. After over twenty years of sporadic essays tucked into a file on my computer, Covid came along and gave me the opportunity to concentrate on making them into a book.
FI: You had a different title in mind as you wrote, though.
MT: Yes. I originally called it A Beginner’s Guide to Happiness because that’s how I see it. I imagine someone who hasn’t given much thought to the effect they can have in their own life picking up the book and finding someplace to start, with lots of ideas.
FI: Like a summary?
MT: No, deeper than that. If the only book you read was Happy Here and Now, and you practiced it, your life would change in amazing ways. That’s the underlying theme of the book: You have to take action in your life. It can be a small step, but you must move, even if you don’t know exactly where you’re going. After spending time with Happy Here and Now the reader might want more depth or breadth of resources, and it points them to some that have been pivotal for me.
FI: How long would you say to spend?
MT: A year wouldn’t be out of the question. The first part of the book describes the theory behind the concepts, and the second part consists of practice. If you decided to concentrate on each of the practices in the second part for a week, you would be at it a year. It’s not like a year of bootcamp, though. Each one is easy, but they add up to a significant difference in your life. As I said, small steps are the key.
FI: I wanted to ask you about something in the book that I’m not quite getting.
MT: Go ahead.
FI: Being thankful for everything. Besides being tough, it just seems like it can’t work.
MT: I know. It’s counter intuitive. But remember, it’s a book on happiness, and being thankful for everything that happens to you is an amazing tool to bring about happiness. And it happens fast. Like as soon as you start doing it.
I started writing down the tidbits when I found out about being thankful for everything because it had such an effect on my life. So, for twenty-five years I’ve been practicing it, but I still find myself bemoaning things that happen to me. I’m not sure I’ll ever be perfect at it. That’s why I recommend starting with the small annoyances and working up to the bigger ones. When you see it working, it’s easier to take the next step.
...Continued in the next blog post
Check out Matt Tracy's Website
https://www.matttracyauthor.com/
FI: Great to meet you. I enjoyed Happy Here and Now.
MT: Thanks. Happy Here and Now was the product of a lifelong passion of mine. For years, I wrote down tidbits of lessons as I learned them, hoping to make them into a book one day. After over twenty years of sporadic essays tucked into a file on my computer, Covid came along and gave me the opportunity to concentrate on making them into a book.
FI: You had a different title in mind as you wrote, though.
MT: Yes. I originally called it A Beginner’s Guide to Happiness because that’s how I see it. I imagine someone who hasn’t given much thought to the effect they can have in their own life picking up the book and finding someplace to start, with lots of ideas.
FI: Like a summary?
MT: No, deeper than that. If the only book you read was Happy Here and Now, and you practiced it, your life would change in amazing ways. That’s the underlying theme of the book: You have to take action in your life. It can be a small step, but you must move, even if you don’t know exactly where you’re going. After spending time with Happy Here and Now the reader might want more depth or breadth of resources, and it points them to some that have been pivotal for me.
FI: How long would you say to spend?
MT: A year wouldn’t be out of the question. The first part of the book describes the theory behind the concepts, and the second part consists of practice. If you decided to concentrate on each of the practices in the second part for a week, you would be at it a year. It’s not like a year of bootcamp, though. Each one is easy, but they add up to a significant difference in your life. As I said, small steps are the key.
FI: I wanted to ask you about something in the book that I’m not quite getting.
MT: Go ahead.
FI: Being thankful for everything. Besides being tough, it just seems like it can’t work.
MT: I know. It’s counter intuitive. But remember, it’s a book on happiness, and being thankful for everything that happens to you is an amazing tool to bring about happiness. And it happens fast. Like as soon as you start doing it.
I started writing down the tidbits when I found out about being thankful for everything because it had such an effect on my life. So, for twenty-five years I’ve been practicing it, but I still find myself bemoaning things that happen to me. I’m not sure I’ll ever be perfect at it. That’s why I recommend starting with the small annoyances and working up to the bigger ones. When you see it working, it’s easier to take the next step.
...Continued in the next blog post
Check out Matt Tracy's Website
https://www.matttracyauthor.com/
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