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Lemonada. Hello and welcome to Happier, a podcast where we talk about ideas and strategies for building more happiness into our everyday lives.
This week is a very special episode.
It's episode 540 and every 10th episode is a very special episode.
And this is an episode about whimsy, more whimsy for all.
I'm Gretchen Rubin, a writer who studies happiness, good habits, secrets of adulthood, the five senses, human nature.
I'm in my little home office in New York City.
And joining me today from Los Angeles is my sister, Elizabeth Kraft. And Elizabeth, you are often a source of whimsy for me.
That's me, Elizabeth Kraft, a TV writer and producer living in L .A.
And Gretchen, this is one of our favorite topics.
I actually feel like I have trouble being whimsical, so I need help.
No, it's good to get ideas, for sure.
And so we are so excited to share so many suggestions from listeners.
But before we jump in, we got an interesting email from a listener.
Yes. Cheryl said, Gretchen and Liz, the two of you made the two of us happier.
Last summer, I listened from Kentucky as you shared about your upcoming hiking adventure with Wilderness England.
I immediately Googled them and continued to follow your preparation, the voice memo diary during the week, the follow -up reflections, and the interview with your guide.
I knew that was the gift I wanted to give myself when I retired from teaching.
At the time, I did not know for sure when my retirement date would be.
In Barcelona, Spain, another woman, Mireya, was also listening along.
She knew a wilderness England adventure was just the gift to share with her husband.
Shortened story, I decided to retire November 1.
Soon after making the decision, I booked my spot on the Northumberland Lake District Tour for May 2025 because I knew I wouldn't be teaching school.
I flew into Edinburgh, Scotland and stayed for a couple of days before training to Penrith.
When we got into the van, our guide asked how we heard about Wilderness England.
Mireya, who was sitting beside me, said I heard about it on a podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin.
What a fun snippet of serendipity.
We wanted to share a photo of the two of us on the trail brought together in England from opposite sides of the Atlantic because of Happier.
This was a life marker experience.
Well, this was so much fun.
It was so fun to see their photo, which Cheryl included.
I love the fact that they went on a great trip and made friends the way we had such a great time on that trip.
Yes, the same one we did.
And so I recognized the scenery looked very familiar in the picture, and it made me wish we were back Back there again, Gretchen.
It was just such a great experience.
I remember the Penrith train station extremely well.
Yeah, same. Happy memories.
Well, now for some whimsy.
And the first question is, okay, what do we mean by adding whimsy to everyday life?
So when we add whimsy, that's when we use a little bit of imagination to add some surprise, something humorous, something just unexpected in everyday life you could give an event on your calendar a goofy name or you could do something silly to decorate your desk it's just adding that little elevated note to just the everyday routine yes unhappier in hollywood gretch sarah and i have been talking about things like if you have to buy them anyway what can you buy that's whimsical like paper clips shaped like dogs for instance right because you need paper clips but you might as well reach for a little
bit of whimsy oh i I just saw something on that note.
So our mother loves cherries.
That's kind of an auspicious symbol for her is cherries.
And my friend knows that our mother's auspicious symbol is cherries.
And so she ripped a page out of a magazine to show to me that was all cherry -related things, like an apron decorated with cherries.
And it was the cutest thing.
It was a measuring spoon.
You know how you buy like a ring and it has five measuring spoons off of it?
So it looked like five cherries hanging off of a green stem with a leaf.
And I thought, oh my gosh, maybe I'll get that for mom just because that's one of her symbols is the cherries and it's handy to have measuring spoons.
And that would be a little whimsical note to elevate it, make it a little bit more personal.
So Grace, why do we reach for whimsy?
Well, you know, the thing about whimsy is by adding it, we add this note that makes everyday life a little easier.
Maybe it makes something routine, a little bit more fun, like using the dog paper clip.
Maybe it makes us feel like our quirks and our loves and our preferences are out in the world around us.
Like if our mom was using cherry shaped measuring spoons or like if I got you something with a corgi on it, it's just like a little whimsical touch. I think using whimsy can make it easier to what otherwise might be considered to be like nagging or reminding.
It's that idea that a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.
It makes fun things more fun and unpleasant things more fun.
And it's funny. Whimsy seems to be having a moment.
It just is popping up everywhere in online conversations, in design trends.
I wrote an article on my site about Whimsy.
If anybody wants to look at it, it's at happiercast .com slash whywhimsy, and I'll post a link to it in the show notes because it really does add something.
I remember I saw these household rules that somebody had, and it said in giant capital of the letters, heinous infractions, right?
Like this very extreme language.
And then below it was just perfectly ordinary chores like hang up your coat.
But then at the bottom, it was like penalty is death or cash equivalent.
You know, it was just the whole thing was so funny and so over the top melodramatic that family was able to make its point and post its list of tasks and chores in a way that was a very light touch. Yeah, Gretchen, you know, I recently on Substack wrote about whimsy because it's been so much in our conversation lately.
And I have to mention the Happier in Hollywood Substack.
Please subscribe. It's free.
Just go to happierinhollywood .com and scroll down and enter your email.
And mine too, Secrets of Adulting.
Yes. That's Substack now.
Oh, yes. Now I have to be plugging yours as well.
Yes. I wrote about the shuttlecocks at the Nelson -Atkins Museum in Kansas City because they are the ultimate whimsy.
They're four giant, 19 -foot -tall shuttlecocks that are supposed to look like giants have been playing a game of badminton using the museum's building as a net and that the shuttlecocks just, you know, fell wherever after the giants were done playing.
And that is exactly what they look like.
And they are so fun and whimsical.
and always make me smile.
Well, and now they've really become one of the symbols of Kansas City.
They're just so fun.
They're very different from the main body of the museum is like columns and transcendent timeless forms, very classical.
And so the shuttlecocks are just this, like very whimsical in contrast. Also in your subsect, you reminded me of a little bit of whimsy that I love that I had forgotten about, which was Garbage Eve.
The family that celebrates Garbage Eve as basically it's a way to remember that the next day was Garbage Day, But calling it Garbage Eve, let's go celebrate Garbage Eve.
It's this way of elevating the kind of ordinary tasks and routines.
Yes, that cracked me up.
The idea that bringing in or taking out the garbage pans is the way to celebrate Garbage Eve.
I know, exactly. So what are some other touches of whimsy, Elizabeth, that you've incorporated?
Gretchen, you mentioned corgis.
I mean, we have corgi whimsy all over our house.
We have, even on our fridge, Adam put up this big sticker that looks like a corgi breaking out of the fridge.
It is trompe l 'oeil, and it really, it looks like there is a hole in the fridge.
I've seen it many times, and every time I look at it, I'm like, wait, what's going on?
And then it is very funny.
Yeah, that's the most dramatic one.
But then, yeah, we have corgi mats and corgi mugs.
And my friend gave me a corgi mom mug that I love.
so we've got a lot of that going on.
Then I've also got my chip -shaped chip bag clips that mom gave me.
So they're potato chip bag clips actually shaped like potato chips.
Oh, I haven't seen those.
That's so fun. Yeah.
I love those clips to close bags of food.
Yes, those are very handy.
How about you? I like hidden places, kind of like things that you might not notice, but that have secret meanings.
So for instance, in our living room, we have these bookshelves, and at the top are painted Roman numerals and it's as if we were some like gigantic library and each bookcase was numbered with Roman numerals but in fact each number represents a birth year of some member of the family so that's just like a cool little thing that we know I have a thing that if you look at it looks like a bookcase but actually it swings open and behind it is a cabinet so it's a fake door and we have like a little frog painted behind our kitchen door which which now it's funny.
Now it's above where the dog's water bowls are.
So it's funny that there's a little frog there.
I can't remember if I wrote about it in the Happiness Project or Happier at Home, but celebrating minor holiday breakfast is a way to bring in whimsy because it's like, dye the milk green or make something pink.
That's a way to have whimsy.
Oh, and then I have the boxes.
This I wrote about in Happier at Home.
I have those miniature boxes.
I have the one that's the magical garden.
So there's a shelf on my bookshelf that actually looks like a miniature magical garden, or I have one that's mermaid lagoon and one that's mountaintop that's hidden inside a cabinet.
Oh, and we have a fake fireplace and in the mantle is painted to look like marble, but it includes all of our initials.
So I like, that's one way I like to have whimsy is hidden things that you have to know to look for.
Yeah, I think that's fun.
Along those same lines, I think it's fun in a powder room, if you have a powder room.
A lot of people like to do whimsical wallpaper.
Oh, yes. That feels like a spot where you can really go crazy with your wallpaper.
Because it's so small.
And bring in some whimsy.
Well, whatever happened to that Mischievous Monkeys wallpaper that Adam loved so much?
We have the wallpaper, but we have yet to put it up.
Oh, okay. So we've got the whimsy at hand, but we have not yet put it up.
I think I see something on the 26 for 26.
list. Yes, I mean, that's a very good idea.
All right, Gretch, coming up, we're going to dive into listeners' ideas of whimsy, which are so wonderful.
But first, this break.
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offer. And now we're back for listener suggestions for bringing more whimsy into everyday life.
These are all ideas that we can do without spending a lot of time, energy, or money, because people don't have a lot of extra time, energy, or money, but there's a lot of imagination.
Yes, this idea comes from Ava.
She said, you have been a big inspiration to me in bringing whimsy into my parenting as you seem like a very serious, well -studied person like me, but you also seem to really embrace the fun in everyday life.
My small example of everyday whimsy is that we recently moved into a new house with a kitchen island with built -in wine racks.
My wife and I aren't big wine drinkers, plus we have a toddler, so leaving easily accessible glass bottles around isn't the best idea.
Therefore, we weren't using these racks for anything.
They're a bit too small for useful storage.
However, they are perfect toddler viewing height, so I decided to turn them into little Playmobile scenes for our wee boy and his friends to discover when they come round to visit.
She says, I've attached a recent example but I'd like to get more creative with these when I have some spare time.
Keeping in mind they often get destroyed by the end of the day.
And then it's a great little Playmobile set of a painter and his canvas.
Yeah, and it looks like there's fairy lights in the back giving it a sparkly look.
I love that that little hidden scenes like that.
I can imagine how enchanted I would have been as a child if every time I walked over to the shelf, there was some little scene there.
Love that. It's like the people who get so creative with their elf on a shelf.
Yes, right. Exactly.
Shelley writes, my kids are out growing their stuffed animals, so I've started giving them away.
But there are a few that I have been unable to part with, either because they are adorable or they remind me of a particular memory with my kids.
I've started putting these on an empty shelf in my laundry room now every time I do laundry I see my shelf of cute stuffed animals and feel a little lighter and happier this is great she realizes she likes these herself so she's keeping these in a way so she can enjoy them love it Eliza said wear bright colored underwear especially if going to a formal slash serious event there's something about wearing neon pink underwear to a job interview that can give you a bit of a boost I like that.
I like that's very fun.
Yes. Justina writes, as a rebel, and thank you forever for making me realize that I am one, I use whimsy as part of my identity to positively manipulate myself into doing things I find boring, but have to do in all areas of life.
At work, I often do B2B lead generation, but reframe it as matchmaking.
And yes, my meeting notes are filled with little scribbly hearts wherever I see alignment between two parties.
When I run, I choose a destination to what I call the ugly house.
It's a notorious route and landmark in my family now.
I collect a little pebble from the road at the end of each run and collect them in a little jar to visualize my progress.
All of this is working well on me and the kids.
Of course, they prefer anything to be reframed in a silly way rather than a plain chore.
But here comes the magical, more surprising twist. It even works on my questioner engineer type husband.
Who knew? Background.
We're about to move to another country and the kids were hoping that with a new house and garden they might get a dog.
I feel meh about that right now but would love a hamster.
The most whimsical pet of all time.
Goes back to what made me happy as a 10 year old.
Another one of your wisdoms. Kids were game.
Husband really wasn't.
Until I thought of a silly way to get him into the idea.
He really like really, really wanted to be an astronaut when he was little.
So I had our four -year -old propose to him that we could call the hamster Neil Hamstrung.
And the week after he video called us from inside a pet store, he was looking at the rodents and thinking of all the cool ways we can engineer its living space with mazes, et cetera.
Manipulation, maybe, but it's whimsical, so it's okay.
I love this. That is so sweet.
Neil Hamstrung. First of all, is the hamster the most whimsical pet of all time?
Everybody weigh in.
What is the most whimsical pet?
Okay, because you might say, well, kangaroos perhaps are more whimsical, but they are not pets.
Right. And maybe they are not whimsical.
I guess kangaroos are pretty strong and violent, though it's fun to watch them jump around.
Is the hamster the most whimsical pet?
Let us know. And if you do not know what a rebel is, take the quiz, gretchenrubin .com, and you will find out if you are a rebel or an upholder or a questioner or an obliger, and you will learn all about the The Four Tendencies.
But I love that this idea from Justina about leaning into what she knows about a rebel.
Rebels often do like gamification.
They do like things being surprising like this.
And of course, love the creativity of the, about the hamster.
That is so fun. Yes.
Gretch, I would say a hedgehog is a more whimsical pet.
Allowed some places, not allowed others.
Yeah, I don't know that people do keep hedgehogs as pets.
Do they? say? I've never heard of that.
Yes, I knew an editor who had a hedgehog.
Okay. What about the giant Welsh rabbit?
Can it hop? Does it hop?
Also whimsical. I don't know.
It may be too big to be whimsical.
It's just a very, very large rabbit.
Whimsical to look at.
Maybe not so whimsical to take care of.
Elise said, I restored my great -grandmother's dollhouse, partly as research for a novel I I wrote, and now I keep it next to my desk in my office for daily doses of joy.
And that's not all.
I've had so much fun learning how to make miniatures that I'm flying from Seattle to Bangor, Maine in early June to attend a week -long school run by the International Guild of Miniatures to try all kinds of fun new things from mini pottery to micro knitting.
I can't wait. I mean, Gretchen, is this the most fun, whimsical, week -long camp that you've heard of?
I love it. And you know what it's also making me think of is for my book, you know, the book that I want to write about, The Open Door Phase, Project Empty Nest. One of the things that people always say is, get a hobby.
And people are like, well, I don't have a hobby.
So one thing to say is, well, what did you do for fun when you were 10 years old?
Maybe it was something like Dollhouses.
And can you go deeper into it?
Can you become an expert?
Can you become a collector?
Or can you get inside of it?
So instead of just observing it or playing with it, can you make it yourself?
Like instead of reading substacks, you're writing a substack or instead of just watching movies, you have an online thing where you rate and review movies.
And I love this idea of really bringing it into her life in a much deeper way because, you know, the more we put into something, the more we get out of it.
I love this. Very whimsical.
Yes. feels busy and this is funny right very funny there's an app where at a certain time every day it tells you to take a photo of yourself wherever you are and it automatically posts and then everybody who's on the app who you're connected to sees that photo it's kind of a fun thing interesting september says i keep special things in my junk drawer like travel mementos mixed in with everything else.
Every time I open the drawer to get a pen or tape, I am reminded of a happy memory and I love the tradition of looking for a junk drawer item on each vacation.
After reading the happiness project, I also started to collect little Swarovski cows.
I collected them for a decade and seeing them arranged on their little shelf also makes me happy.
Love a junk drawer.
Love a tiny memento.
Mementos are better when they're small in size and few in number.
Love a specialized collection.
That is so fun. Bethany says, I sing songs to certain activities when I'm annoyed.
Example, doing laundry or switching clothes and folding.
I sing, I love laundry, to the beat of, I want candy.
When my teens are frustrated about a situation, I sing, it's not about you, to the beat of, it had to be you.
My family has gotten used to my weird humor and now they sometimes ad lib more lyrics.
Elisa, I love this.
Clearly, from my attempt to sing this, I have no sense of how to sing, but you get it.
I want candy. It had to be you.
Change the words. I think that's a really, really good idea, especially for someone who has singing talent.
I love that you attempted that, Gretchen.
That was very whimsical of you.
Yes. Elisa said, I keep bubbles in my car to blow and stop for road construction.
Well, that's funny because I bet people in other cars probably get a kick out of that too.
That's true. That's so fun.
Oh, you know, and this reminds me of what somebody else did.
She, whenever she would go to museums and saw pieces of art that she really loved, she would buy the postcards, and then she would keep a basket by her front door, and she would grab a handful, and then for the next week or so, keep them in the visor above her seat in the car.
And then if she was stuck in traffic, she would pull a postcard and just look at a beautiful piece of art.
Like, how can you transform the experience of being stuck in traffic?
Great ideas. is. Tiffany said, not an everyday thing, but I started this last year on my birthday.
I asked the bartender at the restaurant to make me their interpretation of a singing unicorn, and it's so much fun to see what they come up with.
You can call your drink whatever you want, of course, but it's a little surprise to look forward to, and you get a custom cocktail.
Win -win. And I bet you make the day of the bartender.
I mean, how fun for them.
They probably all have some drink that that they're like, oh, this could be my Manhattan or whatever.
Yes. I'm thinking it's pink, it's purple, maybe it's green.
I love the idea of the singing unicorn.
Yeah. I was sitting in the office with Michael Scott.
He's like, orange juice and vodka.
I came up with this amazing combination.
It's like, yes, you have. Stephanie said, before I put my seasonal clothes in the attic, I hide some money in the pockets.
Also, I buy my underpants mostly when I'm on vacation.
So when I get dressed, I will be reminded of that special place somewhere.
That is so fun. Who knew that underwear was like a good opportunity for whimsy?
I love it. Lynn says, I use fairy lights in places in my home.
I'm 70, but my guest bedroom looks like a tween girl lives there.
Can't help it. I'm an old hippie.
It gives me joy. Can I just say fairy lights and food dye are like the workhorses of whimsy.
There is a lot you can do with fairy lights and food dye.
Yes. I'm never not happy to see fairy lights, that's for sure.
For sure. Janet said, before I leave my house for a holiday, I set up stuffies, reading books, and having tea.
By the time I'm back, I've forgotten I did that and it just makes me laugh.
I love how people do these things.
I know. I know. Hannah said, I added stained glass film to my sunroof so I'd have pretty colors in my car.
Elizabeth, I have never heard of this.
Did you know about stained glass film?
I didn't, but now that she says it, I can absolutely picture exactly what it is, and it sounds like so much fun.
It sounds so fun. All right, coming up, we've got more whimsical ideas from listeners, but first, this break.
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All right, Gretchen, we are back with more whimsy.
Love all the whimsy.
This idea comes from Lottie.
She says, I have poetry tea time with my two little boys on on Thursdays.
I make a treat, serve tea or milk, and we each pick out a poem from our poetry books for me to read aloud.
Oh my gosh. This is like the most cultured, wonderful thing.
I'm filled with regret that I did not do this with my girls.
How fun is this? Same.
That's exactly what I was thinking.
Like, how did I not do this?
This is such a great idea.
But you could also have fairy Fairytale Tea Time.
I love it. Circle Thinker wrote, I am a hider of tiny ducks and it brings me so much joy.
Seeking the perfect place to put them is excellent.
Going back sometime later and finding one is no longer there, excellent.
Going back sometime later and finding one is still there, excellent.
This is so fun. We had these holiday crackers at Thanksgiving that had little tiny wooden animals in them that were really nice and I liked them so much. I scampered around the table and like got everybody to give me their little wooden animals.
And I put them in a wooden box.
I just thought, oh, this is a little bit of whimsy.
Like if somebody just opened up kind of a decorative box, there's all these little animals.
But maybe I'll hide them all over our lake house.
That could be really fun.
And you're like, here is a little tiny wooden rabbit.
But tiny ducks, I mean, a yellow rubber duck, maybe they are the definition of whimsy.
If a hamster is whimsy, tiny duck, that is also whimsy.
Like put a tiny duck anywhere.
Or googly eyes. Put googly eyes on something, instant whimsy.
Yeah, and I think hiding rubber ducks is a thing many people do.
Oh, is that right? It's like a global thing, yeah.
Oh, interesting. OK.
Arkana said, I listen to old pre -recorded Indian radio channels on YouTube from my childhood days as I have my morning kapha.
The world could be falling apart, but the nostalgia -inducing RJ voices and commercials take me back to a time when life was simpler and everything suddenly feels OK.
okay. Gretchen, this reminds me of a Facebook feed I get of 80s toys.
And I love looking at the 80s toys because most times I had that toy and it just brings it all rushing back.
Like an Easy Bake Oven or?
Yes, like Merlin is one, which was like this electronic game or a Barbie head to do hair on.
Yes, yes. or a camper that came with little people and like a table and chairs to sit outside the camper, all sorts of things, Holly Hobby, color forms, so many.
Well, so maybe the larger point is maybe there's a way technology can connect you to with something that feels cozy and makes you happy from your past. For you, it's like getting this little hit when you see that in your feed.
And for Arcana, it's listening to this on YouTube.
So that's super fun.
fun. Hannah says, my seven -year -old son and I take extra quarters to Aldi to put in the grocery cart so people don't have to find one to get a cart.
We try to be sneaky so people are surprised by a free cart.
Oh, that's kind of like do a little random act of kindness.
That's so fun. Oh, and Gretchen, speaking of shopping carts, Melody says, when I'm putting my shopping cart away, I always step up on the bar and scoot myself across the parking lot, working up a good speed so so I can coast a bit.
I've been known to do this inside if an aisle is empty enough.
That is so funny. When I was recording my audiobook, it makes you very restless because you really have to focus to do an audiobook.
It's surprising how tiring it is.
And I had read some research about the value of skipping.
And so I would just to take breaks, I would skip up and down the halls.
And I have to say, like, skipping is super whimsical and fun, too.
Not as whimsical Musical and fun is racing across an empty parking lot and riding a shopping cart.
But it feels like the same time of life that you're tapping into.
Yes, I love it. And then finally, Wendy said, I book all my dentist appointment at tooth 30, 230 for my own and hopefully the receptionist's amusement.
I love that. It took me a minute to realize why 230 was a funny time, but it's tooth 30 for a dentist appointment.
again, even if nobody gets to bit you, you would smile every time you went to the dentist. Yes.
I need to start doing some of these, Gretchen.
I need more whimsy.
Well, when we're on a reader retreat, Elizabeth, maybe when we take breaks for meals, we will plot some whimsy.
I love it. Let us know if you do try this at home and how adding more whimsy to life works for you and what whimsy did you add?
We still want more ideas.
There is just something energizing and cheering about adding this little bit of whimsy.
And that's why it can play an important role in a happier life.
Even if these little gestures feel kind of small, they can pack a big effect.
Let us know on Instagram, threads, TikTok, Facebook, drop us an email at podcast at gretchenmovement .com.
Or as always, you can go to the show notes.
This is happiercast .com slash 540 for everything related to this episode.
And Gretchen, what's the resource for this week?
Well, today is Read 25 Day.
I've been talking about this.
Of course, our challenge for 2025 is Read 25 in 25, and today is a special day, June 25th, Read 25 Day.
Thousands of readers from all over the country are coming together for silent reading throughout the year as part of our Read 25 in 25 challenge.
It has been so much fun to team up with bookshop .org to provide challenges and resources and practical tips and reading suggestions to help all of us cultivate the habit of reading that makes us all so happy.
Now, Read 25 Day is by far our biggest event yet.
I am so happy it's here.
There are many ways to participate, you know, and it's not too late if you haven't made a plan.
There are nearly 200 participating indie bookstores, so you can join other people at an an in -store event if you want to go be with other people at a great indie bookstore.
But you can do it on your own.
You can do it with families and friends.
Remember that any kind of reading counts.
Reading, audiobooks, whatever you want.
For more information and for the list of bookstores, go to happiercast .com slash read25day.
More reading for all.
Yes. And remember, it doesn't have to be at any particular time.
It has to be a particular time if you want to join other people at the bookstore.
Otherwise, you can just schedule it to suit yourself.
and that is it for this episode of happier remember to try this at home add some whimsy to your life let us know if you tried it and if it worked for you thank you to our executive producer chuck reed and everyone at lemonada here's your rhyming reminder and really listen to it take it to heart please do it we appreciate it so much if you love the show leave a review to let us know until next week i'm elizabeth craft and i'm gretchen rubin thanks for joining us onward and upward. Gretchen, I was just thinking maybe a fun 26 for 26 list would be like 26 whimsical things.
Yes. To do or ideas to incorporate.
I don't know if I could come up with 26, but.
Oh, I bet you could.
This would help me start.
I bet you could. We'll start keeping a list now.
And then by the time 26 comes, it's like my, my 25 things that please me makes me so happy.
It is really great.
That's a great idea.
Okay. I'm going to think about that.
All right, let's add to it.
From the Onward Project.
