In a personal essay published recently, the author describes becoming wheelchair-bound during Christmas week 2024 and reflects on the psychological theory of the happiness baseline — the idea that everyone returns to a set level of happiness after major life events. she shares the small daily pleasures that sustain her, from pushing crossing buttons to receiving a fan letter from novelist Lionel Shriver, and argues that the baseline can be raised through gratitude, resilience, and purpose. the essay offers an intimate window into one woman's effort to maintain joy despite profound physical loss.

Christmas week 2024: the moment the baseline shifted

According to the author, her confinement to a wheelchair began in the Christmas week of 2024, an event that could have dramatically lowered her happiness baseline. Instead, she writes, she has always been a naturally upbeat person — someone her husband compares to the 'Brilliant Kid' character from the British sketch show The Fast Show — and she believes her baseline is inherently high. The essay argues that even a sudden, life-altering disability does not necessarily drag one's long-term mood down, citing the theory that lottery winners and accident victims alike tend to revert to their pre-event happiness level within a year.

Brighton's pebble beach and the headless seagull: gratitude through selective memory

A key example of the author's mental reframing involves Brighton beach, where she used to swim. rather than mourn the loss of those swims, she recalls the uncomfortable reality: a pebble beach with 'frankly,filthy water' and a summer swim in 2024 where she encountered a headless seagull. As the essay notes, she chooses to remember the time spent there with her husband, talking and bar-crawling, rather than the dirty water and sore bottom. This selective gratitude is presented as a tool for raising the happiness baseline.

30 years of 'Brilliant Kid' enthusiasm: the author's built-in resilience

The author credits her long-standing personality — her husband has compared her to the enthusiastic 'Brilliant Kid' for 30 years — for her ability to bounce back. She cites a specific incident from early in their relationship when, stuck in a traffic jam, she said, 'My favourite is the pretty orangey one — what's yours?' about traffic lights. This tendency to find delight in mundane things persists: she now volunteers to push crossing buttons. The essay implies that a baseline can be cultivated over a lifetime, not just imposed by genetics.

Volunteering at the Mind shop: the loss that hurts more than five-star holidays

Surprisingly, the author states that what she misses most is not luxurious travel but her decade-long volunteer work at the Mind charity shop, five mornings a week. She tried returning but found it altered, saying she'd 'rather have those happy memories intact than see them worn away.' This section of the essay underscores that purpose and social connection may matter more to happiness than material comforts . The essay does not address how those without such a rich history of volunteering might replicate this source of joy.

Raising the happiness baseline: 'Do it or don't do it' — a Jungian prescription?

The essay concludes with practical advice: the happiness baseline can be raised by being grateful, cultivating resilience, and finding purpose. The author quotes Carl Jung — 'You are what you do, not what you say you'll do' — and criticizes the modern tendency to label oneself as neurodivergent as an excuse not to adapt. She warns that merely talking about change leads to 'the frustration of the emotional hamster wheel.' While the essay offers a compelling personal philosophy, it leaves open the question of whether such resilience is universally attainable — and whether systemic support might be as important as individual attitude.