Does your book group make you as happy as an extra £40k a year? #WorldBookDay

A re-post for World Book Day 2020 by our Project Manager @rosiehopes

I remember reading that doing something you enjoy once a month with people you like adds as much to your happiness as earning an extra £40,000 a year. I say I remember reading it, but despite frantic googling, I can’t find a source, so either

a) I have invented this statistic
b) maybe it wasn’t such a groundbreaking study, but I remember it because it struck a chord with me.

Either way, it’s not stopped me quoting it to anyone who will listen (and plenty who won’t) and regardless of its scientific basis, it kind of feels right to me. Of course, below a certain income level, you need the cash to avoid the misery of poverty. But once  material needs are met, there’s something in it.

We have a Community Correspondent meeting for Mind Waves about once a month. We enjoy cake, set the world to rights on every subject under the sun and plan what we’ll blog about. It’s a date in the diary and a chance to catch up with great people and it makes my life better.

I also love my monthly book group. It’s added a whole new dimension to my favourite hobby and I’ve met a solid group of friends. Just checking in once a month is enough that we stay aware of what’s going on in each other’s lives. We’ve seen each other at our best and worst.

Between work, two young children and everything else, life can get pretty busy. But book group is non-negotiable for me. I’ve nursed a newborn baby over a discussion of the Great Gatsby and cancelled other plans so I can make it. It’s not a lot to commit one evening a month, but it makes a big difference to my life.

I don’t know if I’d turn down an extra £40,000 to quit my book group. But I can’t imagine what I could possibly buy that would add as much to my life.

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