Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What personal experiences are shared about feelings of inadequacy?
I urge you today, if you're near a tree, to go and hug it. I think everyone's got an arty bone in them somewhere. We searched for the biggest tree we could find. It was a girthy old guy. This is going to be a curveball you didn't see coming. Harry Hill swimming. We should have an art club. Happy Place Art Club. Hannah is livid that people don't RSVP to plans. I get it.
That usually lasts about half an hour before my true self emerges. And that true self is someone that doesn't like to leave the house.
Harry Hill is a...
It's apparently ripped. Hello everyone and welcome to Happy Place.
Chapter 2: Why is hugging trees beneficial for our well-being?
I hope that you are good today. I'm in a relatively cheerful mood. Maybe you can tell because I'm wearing all red like a little cherry tomato. But I hope that we find you well and happy today. And if not... Don't worry, you will come out the other side of it. We're going to talk about things today that make us happy and not so happy as we have been doing. And there's some good ones.
I want to kick straight off slightly self-indulgently with my own because we'll get to other members of Team Happy Place in a bit. But last night... I pushed through a sort of a bit of social anxiety, which I was feeling. I go through definitely periods of wanting to hibernate at this time of year.
And yesterday I was feeling really fatigued and knackered and I couldn't deal with seeing other humans. But I was and I sound like an absolute twat, even deliberating whether I was going to go to this or not, because of course I did. But I got invited to a documentary premiere at Windsor Castle yesterday.
Chapter 3: How can painting by numbers help reduce screen time?
And it's this amazing documentary that The King has created all about the environment. And I think you can watch it on Prime pretty soon. And it's an amazing documentary. I loved it. And actually, I had a jolly evening. I was sat next to Hannah Fry, who I'm sort of mildly obsessed with. feeling like really stupid all night.
Your insecurity starts peaking when you're chatting to someone really clever. Her brain is outrageous. But anyway, we had a little gossip. We watched this brilliant documentary and it's all about harmony and harmony in nature and harmony between us and nature. And there were several things that I liked about it.
One was that it wasn't a documentary that put all the emphasis on us as individuals, like you should be doing better, you need to recycle everything, you're failing, you're ruining the planet. That wasn't the feeling of it at all. If anything, it was certainly,
Chapter 4: What are the social etiquette issues surrounding RSVPs?
His Royal Highness, the King, saying, you know, this is what I'm trying to do. And he even was saying, you know, in his small way, but the things that he's done for the environment are quite exceptional. If you watch this documentary, you'll see some amazing projects like Dumfries House, which is a great example of community and environment being intertwined.
And looking at other projects globally where Huge amounts of land have been changed from arid soil to beautiful, lush, verdant, green meadows. It was astonishing and it was hopeful. That's what I'm getting at. It was a hopeful documentary about the environment, but it didn't exclude the horrors that we know exist and the decline and...
climate change etc so me and my friend Claire the other day with this in mind because I knew I was going to this documentary had a really nice walk and it was sort of it was dusk I like walking at dusk the sun was setting you know as early as it is at this time of year and we were mooching through this very dense bit of woodland and Claire said I think she was sort of half joking she's like should we just go and hug a tree and I was like
I would love to go and hug a tree. I don't know if I've ever actually done it. It's sort of like, I don't know, perhaps seen as like a cheesy naff thing to do. I urge you today, if you're near a tree, to go and hug it. We searched for the biggest tree we could find. It was a
Chapter 5: How can we revive the art of letter writing?
girthy old guy and we found this big old tree and we both hugged it and there was something so calming to my nervous system about wrapping my arms around this beautiful big probably you know 100 year old tree and just being near it it was so lovely and we take trees for granted we just walk past them on a walk don't even talk about them acknowledge them and they're doing all of this beautiful work the whole time communicating with other trees
you know, going through all of the seasons and shedding leaves and growing buds. And we could hear all of these parakeets that were tweeting. There's lots of parakeets near where I live. And it was just a beautiful moment and something very, very simple. So I urge you, don't worry about what other people think if they walk past you and you're hugging a tree. Go for it.
Trees this week are making me very, very happy. Now, what's making Team Happy Place happy? Lana from Team Happy Place, who is the most efficient, organized person I've ever met in my life. Everyone needs a Lana. She is really enjoying at the moment painting by numbers. And again, a simple pleasure, something that is methodical and calming to the nervous system.
to get us to slow down a little bit. And more importantly, Lana says, to get us away from screens.
Chapter 6: What humorous moments arise when discussing Harry Hill?
Lana is on her laptop a lot, coordinating all the stuff that we're doing at Happy Place. So for her to have a little moment of calm in the evenings, I think pretty much all weekend, she did painting by numbers. It's just a lovely way. And also painting by numbers is really good if you don't feel that you're necessarily artistic. I think everyone's got an arty bone in them somewhere.
But if you don't think or you've never tried painting before, I would say paint by numbers is a really good place to start. My mum is another good example of someone who uses painting to feel mentally better. My dad is an incredible artist. He was a sign writer for his whole career. He's exceptionally talented at painting cars and landscapes.
My mum didn't ever feel like she had any sort of artistic qualities, but they started going to an art club together. I think it was a couple of years ago now. And it's so adorable. Every week she sends me a little picture of what she's painted.
Chapter 7: What are the team's reflections on things that annoy them?
It's usually people. So I think, was it Vivienne Westwood last week where it was someone, or maybe it was Twiggy. She likes painting sort of iconic women in fashion or just iconic women. And she's getting so much from learning techniques and just giving it a go. And painting is always, I mean, I love painting. Painting is always wonderful because there's something to see at the end of it.
And it doesn't matter if, It's of a, you know, in inverted commas, good standard or not. It's like, did you enjoy making it? There is something really special about having a finished product at the end. And it's a big reminder to me, Lana saying, painting by numbers, that I need to get my paintbrushes out because I've not painted probably for about a year now.
which is too long and I get so much from painting. I love painting portraits. I've posted a couple of them on my Instagram page over the years, but I get a massive kick out of it. And there's probably not another activity that can make my brain almost flatline where I don't really have many thoughts.
Chapter 8: How can listeners participate in the Happy Place Art Club?
I'm just so in this focused zone of concentration. So I would say, This week, hug a tree, get your pens and paper out or your paintbrushes and do something arty just for you. We should have an art club. Happy Place Art Club. Am I just like putting more work out there that nobody else wants to be doing? We should do a Happy Place Art Club where you send in your pictures that you've painted.
I'm putting that out there. Keep this in the edit. And let's do Happy Place Art Club. We need another Instagram handle. Oh, my God. I'm so sorry, Team Happy Place, but I think we should do it. Also, can I just do an aside? Something that's making Amelia, who's giggling in the corner, happy this week. This is going to be a curveball you didn't see coming. Harry Hill swimming.
I can hear Basil laughing behind the wall. In Amelia's words, fit. Harry Hill is apparently ripped. I mean, look at this picture. I mean, it's a ludicrous picture. He's got his goggles on. It's just so unexpected. Which is really presumptuous of us. Of course, 61.
Look at those biceps and those shoulder muscles. We're objectifying Harry Hill right now. I didn't even know I was going to do this. Here we go. Took an unexpected turn, this podcast. Go on, Harry Hill. Right, let's talk about things that we're not happy about. Let's start with Team Happy Place. Who said people not RSVPing to plans out of the team? Is that Hannah?
So wonderful Hannah runs Happy Place Book Club. And if you're not a member of our book club, join. It's really simple. You just need to follow us on Instagram at Happy Place Book Club and we do a book a month. And Hannah runs the whole operation. She's exceptional and she's always passing brilliant books my way. Hannah is livid that people don't RSVP to plans. I get it. I don't like that either.
I'm a Virgo, whether you believe in the Zodiac stuff or not. I think many Virgos like order and we like to know this is what I'm doing on Tuesday. This is how Wednesday is going to run. Are we going out Thursday? Now, what I've had to get better at myself over the years is saying no to things that I know I don't want to go to. Because what I've done...
previously and this has probably been not the case for the last year because I'm trying to change for the better but I used to say yes to everything thinking I should go I might you know it might further my career or I should go because I might meet someone interesting or I should go because I feel bad letting them down like whatever reason it was rarely because I wanted to go and I would say yes and then I'd get to the day and then I would start dreading it and thinking
How do I get out of this? Should I just say I'm ill? I've got a migraine. I need to go and get one of the kids from school. I think of every conceivable excuse and then let that person down, which is so much worse than just saying no in the first place. Also, sometimes, and this was kind of like the Windsor Castle thing. Sometimes I RSVP when I'm in a social mood.
Like every now and again, I'm in a real like peopley mood. I'm like, that's exciting. I'm going to wear that dress. This is going to be fun. That usually lasts about half an hour before my true self emerges. And that true self is someone that doesn't like to leave the house. And then I've got to deal with either just pushing through and going or letting people down on the day.
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