Happy As

Book excerpt: 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