It took years for me to realize that I could be happy and to figure out ways to allow myself happiness. Because I was raised in a cult – as a Moonie – and 18 was about the age when I started to pull away from the cult, there wasn’t a lot of happiness in my life (or mind or heart) at that point. Lisa: When I was 18 years old, I didn’t even know that I was unhappy, and I didn’t know that I deserved to be, and could be, happy. Gretchen: What’s something you know now about building healthy habits or happiness that you didn’t know when you were 18 years old? I just have to choose to notice the good and allow myself to enjoy it. – any and all of this can consistently make me happier. When I throw myself into the moment – as I exercise or talk with friends or laugh and play, etc. When I pause and notice the breeze on my skin, or the beautiful day, or the flowers around me, I am happier. By that I mean when I actively look for the yellow birds that I love – each time I see them I am happier. Lisa: As simple as it might sound, when I actively, intentionally practice mindfulness in a way that makes me notice things that are soothing or joy-creating for me, I am happier. Gretchen: What’s a simple habit or activity that consistently makes you happier? I couldn’t wait to talk to Lisa about happiness, habits, and productivity. She’s written a memoir of her experience, and how she found the resiliency to surmount the difficulties in her upbringing, in to the moon and back: a childhood under the influence. She was caught between two wildly different worlds, and this shaped the way she saw the world, herself, and other people. Her mother was a member of the Unification Church, founded by Sun Myung Moon, and her father was part of the life of New York City’s East Village in the 1970s.

To the moon and back lisa kohn