Happy As: Why the quest for happiness is making us miserable

Lisa Portolan

jun 2018 · Bonnier Zaffre Ltd.

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In a world where data is the new currency, social media is turning us all into walking, talking billboards and brands and we're meant to be mindful, manifesting and present, isn't it a bit rich to be expected to be happy too?

After a lifetime spent actively searching for happiness as well as studying it, communications executive and yogi Lisa Portolan shares valuable insights into how we made happiness a science and an industry, created products around it and supported it with a whole heap of advertising to ensure that works, but is 'brand me' just a recipe for unhappiness?

'Lisa points the way to an alternative approach where instead of performing or pursuing an artificial construction of happiness, we can discover our authentic, holistic selves, and learn that this is enough.' - Tom Dawkins

'A big call, but coming from a practitioner of the dark arts of advertising and persuasion Lisa's insights are f*cking surprising and enlightening.' - Paul Bongiorno AM

'Lisa Portolan's fascinating exploration of happiness reveals fresh insights into this much-lauded but little-examined condition. Startling in its insight and surprising in its scale, Happy As sheds light into the darker corners of people's search for joy. And, oddly enough, it is an unbridled joy to read.' - Tim Ferguson

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Dr Lisa Portolan is an academic and researcher from Sydney. Her PhD relates to dating apps and how intimacy is navigated and negotiated through the digital landscape. She is a casual academic at the University of Technology Sydney, examining new and emerging technologies and platforms like TikTok, and their impact on communication and intimacy. She has published several books, including Love, Intimacy and Online Dating: How a global pandemic redefined intimacy (Routledge, 2023), and is a regular guest on Australian television programs such as The Drum, The Project, the Today Show and Weekend Today. Her critical research focus is on the development of intimacy and meaningful connections, and she has a regular spot on 2ser Radio, Love life with Lisa. Dr Portolan writes for a number of publications including The Conversation. She has two children, a long-suffering dog Juno, and a long-suffering partner Gino. She had a top-ten podcast, Slow Love, where the key area of focus was sex, love, and intimacy during Covid-19 times.