I’m Very Happy. Today My Book Hits the Shelves, and It’s My Anniversary

Gretchen Rubin

I can't quite believe this, but today is the publication day for my book. As of today, Happier at Home out in the world, available for sale at bookstores near you.

I vividly remember the moments when I've had the idea to write each one of my books. I can tell you exactly where I was, whom I was with, the quality of the light, how I got the idea.

For this book, I was unloading the dishwasher on a Sunday afternoon. My husband was watching golf in the next room; my daughters were playing Restaurant.

Suddenly, I was hit by an intense wave of homesickness. I felt the way I did when I went to summer camp for the first time. Homesick-but why? I was standing in my own kitchen! I was homesick, I realized, for here and now-a kind of prospective nostalgia for this time of life.

That emotion was so puzzling, and so strong, that I began to think seriously, for the first time, about the idea of "home" and its relationship to happiness. Before long, I'd vowed to do another happiness project, this time devoted to home-with a special focus on issues that converge in "home," such as time, body, possessions, family, and neighborhood.

Now, some people assume that this examination might only be interesting to people with families at home. Nope! It's meant to be interesting to anyone who has a home, and who'd like their home to feel more…homey. (I've been surprised by the number of people who say to me casually, "Oh, I hate my home." That seems so bleak.)

As a writer, publication day is always a milestone moment for me. It certainly went into my Milestone Journal.

Some highlights coming up:

Leonard Lopate, WNYC, September 4

Today show, September 5

Katie Couric's Katie, October 11

Amazon Top 100

I'm extremely grateful for all the people who did so much to help bring this book into the world. What a joy it was to write! (With every book, I think, "Alas, I'll never again have as much fun with a book as I've had with this one." But the next one is always even more fun.)

And thank you, readers of the blog, for your insights and enthusiasm!

Today is also my wedding anniversary, so as important as Happier at Home is to me, I'm reminded that the element of my life that really makes me happier at home is my husband. Wherever he is, that is my home, and I'm happy there.

Happy September, and happy reading.

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