I'm a California girl living in the middle of nowhere in State College, Pennsylvania. One of the reasons I left California was when I walked around, all I would see were people who were so unhappy all the time. We had everything we could've imagined, and yet, everyone was still so mean, cruel, and angry all the time. It was a blessing and a rarity to find or meet someone who was unapologetically happy about life. Everyone always had something to complain about, something always could've been better, something always needed to be changed. Sad to say, but the stereotype of everyone needing to be the fittest, the skinniest, the most this or that, was true. Everyone was always competing over and fighting over who was the best. Everyone needed to be right. Everyone was upset.

I hated this about California so much, and I lived in it for 18 years. Everyone was always judging each other, and everyone was talking about each other behind their backs. My school was like this, my family is like this, my friends are like this, I'M like this. It's something we have been surrounded by the majority of our lives, and it's been something those close to me and I have had to train ourselves not to do.

I've learned that to deal with this and to rid myself of the toxic, judgemental perspective that lots of people share is focus my attention on the same things from a different perspective. Rather than critiquing it, what can I appreciate about it? I noticed that here a lot of people just seemed to exist in that state. They were constantly repeating me, what is there not to love about State College. They just genuinely enjoyed everything. They appreciated every bit of the world around them, especially the little things that made this town special. This made me so excited, and it made me so happy because what better to see than happy people in Happy Valley?

Obviously, though, not everyone in Happy Valley is happy all the time. Everyone anywhere can't all be happy, it just doesn't make sense and isn't logical. Regardless of this fact, for all the smidgens of happiness that everyone does have here, I wanted and want to contribute to it. I want to be able to exist in happiness as long as I can and even share it if I can, and I've learned that for me taking the time to enjoy the little things is how I do it— listening to funny podcasts and smiling around campus, seeing a butterfly just fly off into the distance, seeing really big honey bees for the first time, and just stopping to look at the different colors of the leaves on the trees. These are all things I have done within just the last week that have my day immeasurably better.

It's funny to see people react to me snickering and laughing to myself when I hear something funny either from a podcast or while I'm walking talking on the phone with my best friends. It's like people are surprised to see happiness, and I just think the best way to spread happiness is to be unapologetic about experiencing it. There's nothing stupid or embarrassing about chuckling out loud at yourself when you're hit in the face by a falling leaf. There's nothing wrong with stopping to appreciate the little flowers that grow in the cracks of the sidewalk. There's nothing crazy about watching a squirrel make its nest and collect food.

Appreciating the little things makes you think about how fascinating all the things we take for granted are. And for me at least, when I appreciate the little things, it makes me even more thankful for all the stupendous things that happen in my life. If something as simple as smelling flowers and walking enjoying the rain can make me happy, what does that say about meeting new people that can bless my life for years to come? What does that say about being offered to study at my dream school and step into a new chapter in my life?

All of this is simply to say, this is how I stay happy.