Happiest Demographic

According to Allure Magazine, unmarried, childless women are the happiest demographic. This article appeared on my Facebook newsfeed last week. I shared it with a few married with children colleagues and they giggled in agreement. Wonder if this is a “grass is greener on the otherside” statistic? Note that the article does not define a sample size or sample population, rather it points to an expert in the field. This expert is ironically male and a professor of economics. If this data can’t be sourced from an appropriately designed study, then at least source the data from a female professor of integrative wellness. Reliable sources matter.

In March 2019, I attended the #Reframe conference in Oakland, California. One of the speakers, Casper ter Kuille, Director, On Being Impact Lab spoke on the topic of Spiritual Poverty as it relates to the epidemic of social isolation we are experiencing in our modern society. Statistically, 1 in 4 Americans say they have no one to talk to - imagine speaking and being heard (listened to). Approximately, 3500 churches close annually and there is a rise in numbers of those without a spiritual or religious home. Which came first?

Our (spiritual) communities are being remixed. We are taking the traditional bundled ways of being together, unbundling them and re-bundling in ways that work for us. Hopefully, to create meaningful ways of being and rituals that serve both the wellbeing of the individuals and the collective. We share less. When is the last time you asked a neighbor for something? Have you ever asked a neighbor for anything? Do you turn to your neighbors in your meaning making lives? These acts seem to ask for moral imagination and social courage.

As part of the demographic defined to be the happiest, I am not the happiest. I am happy not because I am unmarried and childless, rather I am happy because I want what I have. (Thanks, Sheryl Crow!)