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Is Happiness Overrated?

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Hand holding camera lens over lake scene

This podcast aims to explore what happiness is and what lies beyond it, in 5 small bite-size pieces. Spoiler alert, it’s not all about happiness, but living fully with purpose and meaning. Happiness is transient and fickle. The podcast is exploratory in nature, providing a playful curiosity rather than instruction or advice. It uses concepts from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which is a type of therapeutic modality, although the most important aspect is reflecting on the common human experience. Humans don’t seem to be engineered for happiness, but they are engineered for experiences of all variations. Humans are more than their minds tell them.

Importantly, these podcasts are not intended to be used as a replacement for counselling, therapy, or medical intervention for those who might need it. Rather, the series aims to provide a stimulus to reflect and ponder with curiosity. 

Cover art photo by Paul Skorupskas on Unsplash

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 episodes
Episode Description People Date Captions
Part 5: Why be happy when you can be real? Here we pull everything together. Living fully and meaningfully is greater than happiness. At what cost do we chase and try to own happiness?
Tim Knowlson 8 January, 2026 Captions
Part 4: The Matryoshka Doll - is it really happiness or something else? Tim tries to unpack the word happiness using the metaphor of the Matryoshka Doll, and wonders how it connects to the state of our world and the transience of experience. Tim Knowlson 8 January, 2026 Captions
Part 3: I’m a tourist in my own life We think about moving from spectator to actor in our own lives, away from autopilot using values and goals. Tim Knowlson 8 January, 2026 Captions
Part 2: How do we even define happiness? Stories of the mind and the secret director Tim tries to define happiness and fails badly doing so. Sometimes definitions are confusing and need to be treated flexibly. Happiness as a label might not be so useful and is very contextual. Tim Knowlson 8 January, 2026 Captions
Part 1: Introduction This part sets the scene and manages expectations. It introduces attention to the mind and mindset. There’s a warning about multi-tasking and treadmills.
Tim Knowlson 8 January, 2026 Captions
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 episodes

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