Happiness Is.: Unexpected Answers to Practical Questions in Curious Times

by Shawn Christopher Shea

In this highly entertaining and literate book, Shawn Christopher Shea takes us on a provocative journey into the world of practical philosophy, applied spirituality and everyday psychology. Calling... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0757300669
• ISBN13: 9780757300660
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Hci
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Happiness Encompassed

Peter A. Olsson, M.D. (...) Book Review of: HAPPINESS IS: Unexpected Answers to Practical Questions in Curious Times. By Shawn Christopher Shea, M.D. Publisher, Health Communications Inc. 340 pages, $19.95. Shawn Shea M.D. is a psychiatrist colleague who has authored two outstanding books considered classics in our field, THE PRACTICAL ART OF SUICIDE ASSESSMENT: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals, and PSYCHIATRIC INTERVIEWING: The Art of Understanding, 2nd Edition. Now Doctor Shea has written a splendid book for the general reader, (and us professionals as well!). In Shea's HAPPINESS IS, he introduces us to an array of unusual, unlikely, and fascinating heroes and heroines of Happiness. One could see how St. Francis, Einstein, the Dali Lama or even Billy Graham could be used as examples or role models to help us find Happiness, but Benny the limo driver? A feisty teenager? That dwarf Casper Hauser? Come on now Doctor Shea? However, Shea does it! The reader finds him or herself feeling sad with, inspired by, chuckling with, or entering waves of belly laughs with Shea and his cast of unique characters. With this lively style and helpful guests, Dr. Shea starts off with a lively defining discussion about happiness as not a feeling, but as an amalgam of attitude and feeling. He confronts us with the critical importance of distinguishing between success and happiness. Uniquely discovering happiness "In the present moment", IS success, and not the dead-end search for success as a futile means to gain happiness. Shea's discussions of Hope and Trust are spellbindingly illustrated. Shawn Shea's writing style is like a double-barreled literary shotgun. He writes elegant, clear and evocative prose that provides cascades of vivid images to ponder. The other barrel of his literary approach is an elfish, disarming and playful sense of humor. Shea's wit dances rumbas and scherzos with the reader. Our psychiatric and psychoanalytic literature is replete with references to the "Bio-psycho-social-spiritual model". Dr. Shea creatively develops this framework into a lively and layperson-friendly fabric that he calls the Human Matrix. The matrix has five wings in its palace of personhood. The five wings are: (1) The biological; (2) The Psychological (Mind); (3 & 4) The Environmental (Both Impersonal [floods, earthquakes, and other disasters], and Personal [Relationships]); (5) Spiritual. Shea provides key questions about how to tell which wings of the matrix are troubled and what the trouble is. (pp278-280). Shea's discussion of the "Secrets", "Guiding rules" and "Strategic Principles" in regard to the wings of the human matrix and their interactions, is very important. (Chapter14). This chapter is challenging for the reader, but has enormous implications for personal preventative mental health and healing applications. Shawn Shea in his chapter 18, The Journey Outward, provides a profoundly concise and eloquent presentation on the topic of Compassi

A very serious topic discussed in an entertaining package...

When the author of "Happiness Is." contacted me by e-mail and asked if I would be interested in reading and reviewing his latest book, I felt that I should warn him in advance regarding my views of traditional and contemporary psychiatry, some of which are posted on my website under the heading "The Psychiatric Game." So, to be fair and upfront with Dr. Shawn Christopher Shea, the author of the book, and provide him with full disclosure, I sent a rather lengthy response to him, outlining my philosophical positions about the theory and practice of psychiatry, about the concept of "mental illness" as usually defined, and my personal opinions regarding various "psychotherapies." Furthermore, I informed him that I was supportive of the ideas promoted by the iconoclastic-psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz, the theories and practices developed by the "Cognitive Therapy" movement, and especially the procedures and programs utilized by the "Reality" therapists as developed by psychiatrist Dr. William Glasser back in the 1970s. I figured my advisory would cause any "normal" psychiatrist or mental health practitioner to take a pass on me and find a more sympathetic reviewer. Well, Dr. Shea is apparently not your "normal" psychiatrist and my warnings didn't bother him a bit; he sent the book, I read it, and here is my brief review of a delightful book that I recommend without any hesitation to anyone interested in improving his or her life and pursuing that sometimes elusive phenomenon we call "happiness." I know it's hard to believe, but here is a psychiatrist who can write an informative book for the common person in ordinary English, fill it with interesting anecdotes, compelling stories, and engaging personalities (including such diverse figures as the famous "elephant man" John Merrick, Saint Francis of Assisi, the mystical Julian of Norwich, ice skating champion Michelle Kwan, the celebrated Helen Keller, the Dalai Lama, and more), and entertain the reader with a witty style and appropriate humor, all while discussing a serious subject that is probably number one on anybody's list: What is happiness and how can we work toward achieving it? That, I suggest, is quite a feat, and Dr. Shea, in my opinion, pulls it off with flying colors. Even the clever subtitles that he uses throughout the book make their point in such a way that is both entertaining and memorable. An initial remark about the term "happiness" may be advisable, particularly for those who are within the same philosophical tradition as I am, that is, the Classical Realism of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. The term "happiness" as used by the author in his book is not quite the same as it is used, for instance, by Aristotle, who defines happiness as "action in accordance with virtue." Aristotle's definition is primarily an "ethical" definition and perfectly appropriate for the context in which that great philosopher employs that concept. On the other hand, Dr. Shea's use of the term "happiness"

Happiness Is ... reading this book!

As a person who identifies more with Oscar the Grouch than Pollyanna, I admit that I opened this book with more than a little skepticism. Let's see - the author is not only going to define that elusive quality, happiness, but also explain - specifically and realistically - how anyone can achieve it, regardless of life circumstances?? Yeah, right. As it turns out, right indeed! Shawn Shea actually pulls this off! By starting off with the understanding that achieving happiness is a struggle, he makes it clear this will not be a sugar-coated, quick-fix self-help manual. Yet with droll humor and down-to-earth examples, he also makes it clear that the quest for happiness, struggle though it may be, can be achievable, energizing, and even fun. Shea illustrates the nature of happiness with intimate portraits of people as far-ranging as a fourteenth century French anchorite and a twenty-first century airport limousine driver in Iowa. He finds happiness lessons for us on handball courts, at the tops of ski slopes, in the lives of heroic historical figures, and in steamy cups of coffee. At the heart of Shea's prescription for achieving happiness is what he describes as a matrix - an interconnected set of influences that can each be tweaked toward happiness. This metaphor allows the reader to systematically and effectively approach what could otherwise seem like a complex, entangled mess of joy-depleting stuff. I can safely say that if you read this book, you will emerge from it with at least a few reasonable ideas for how to reconnect, or remain connected, with joy. Happy reading!

A Book For Everyone!

The title "Happiness Is" caught my eye, so I decided to give the book a read and found that it was not filled with the typical psycho-babble preaching so rampant in this genre. This book is really for everyone, not just the self-help book set. Dr. Shea's colloquial style and anecdotes make you feel as if you are sitting across from him in a one-on-one conversation. The conversation, luckily enough, is never boring! Every chapter begins with a quote, many of which made me stop and think a bit before I started reading the chapter. One I have come to use as a daily mantra is the one from Chapter 3 by the poet John Milton which states: "The mind is it's own place, and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven". I think that most people who could truly benefit from a change of mind set have in place firm excuses as to why those changes don't apply to them instead of being able to see themselves and thinking "Hey - that sounds like me!" Most people need to be hit over the head with a bat before they realize what unhappiness they really create for themselves by the way they go through their lives. I know I did and what I found in reading Dr. Shea's book is that everyone is looking to be happy, to have a happy life and to enjoy the world around them. This book, aside from being an enjoyable and entertaining read, gently guides you step by step into realizing that anyone and everyone has the tools to find the happiness that lies hidden in their own lives and how to enjoy it to the fullest. Dr. Shea's book is truly paradise found - and applied! This is a great book for anyone in your life - including yourself. If you want to start being happier and giving the gift of happiness to those in your life, send them a copy of this book.

This book is just great!

Just loved it! A wonderful and inspiring read! `Happiness Is' succeeds in humanizing every persons quest for lasting happiness with sensitivity, compassion and humor. I found the generous anecdotes and shared insights from the Dr. Shea's experiences to be enormously reassuring and joyfully easy to identify with. Dr. Shea's skillful use of metaphors, woven with history (both distant and more recent) serves to move the more complex messages of the book into form - `life' - on many so levels. This book is a jewel, and was just as moving (if not more so) the second time through. Everyone should read this book!!!!