Our group discussion centered largely around what is happiness, and how it is relative to the individual and his/her past and present circumstances. Just into Chapter 1 of Happiness, Ricard discusses the difference between a glimpse, or a magical moment of happiness and immutable peacefulness. In recalling what event may have brought one joy - a surprise gift, seeing a friendly face, a test passed, etc. - "this experience is just a passing glimpse brought on by a particular set of circumstances." So I guess our question here, is a retreat to Bright Sided; if our happiness is primarily composed of fleeting moments is the key to "enlightened" peacefulness positive thinking? Is it something that we can actively control? There is certainly something to Ricard's notion that recognizing these fleeting moments gives us some purview into the conditions that favor it.
This in many ways relates to Ricard's caged-bird metaphor - that we are caged birds who have become so complacent we barely recognize the possibility of changed circumstances. "The prospect of change makes us dizzy" (31). I think we can probably all understand this at some level, change is hardly easy. But to think that happiness is a skill that must be cultivated is a entirely new idea. We don't think about practicing how to be happy. And if there was a way to practice, how would we do it? Meditate, pet puppies and kittens? I say this not to belittle any conception of meditation or the like; but looking at this from the perspective of people, who cringe at the thought of unscheduled time, merely considering practicing happiness is a very daunting task.
I think practicing be happy would be understandable, but not in the traditional definition of "practice." It would be more so keeping yourself on the right thought track when something interrupts your happiness. A positive mental attitude needs to be maintained and that could be a form of practice to keep happy thoughts.
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