Happiness in a good book

It’s International Day of Happiness today, March 20. This UN designated day aims to raise awareness of the importance of happiness within people’s lives. This year’s theme is be mindful, be grateful, be kind (follow the link for 3 simple steps you can use anytime).

One activity that makes me happy is writing (thank you for reading!). Another is reading a great book. Lately I have been enjoying murder mysteries.

If you are familiar with the book series by Donna Leon or Louise Penny then you will be well acquainted with Commissario Guido Brunetti and Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. What makes these mystery novels so appealing are these noble characters. I find myself enjoying their company as I join them in solving crimes.

There are so many similarities between the Commissario of the Italian state police and the Chief Inspector of the Sûreté du Québec. There’s a mutual love of literature. Guido has a fondness for Greek tragedies while Armand enjoys poetry (in particular the prose of his cranky neighbour). Both men are steadfastly devoted to their families (and both interestingly have erudite wives who seem to always know the right thing to do or say). Another common trait is their deep connection and loyalty to their community: the wondrous Venice and the quaint Québec village of Three Pines. The maps on the inside book covers and evocative descriptions will transport you to their cherished hometowns.

Both are good decent men. Both confronted daily with the unsavoury side of human behaviour: cruelty, corruption, revenge, jealously. Murder. Despite the countless murders they investigate, they are not detached from death. They feel the sadness. They may feel a pang in looking at the hands of the newly dead imagining all the objects and people it had held, or dread the invasion of privacy they must breach in searching pockets of the deceased.

It’s their job to observe and analyze the unsettling. Yet they are both mindful to find ways to cope. How many times do we see Guido take a pause, however brief, to appreciate the wonder of his hometown Venice, for example “to be calmed by the symmetry” of a basilica facade. Armand may sit on the bench in the village green to soak in the stillness and beauty of the old homes and perennial gardens, or allow himself to be soothed by the warm glow of the village bistro.

Another trait they share is gratitude. They cherish the simple pleasures of life, their families and comforts of home. In the first book, we find Guido entering his apartment on the fourth floor thankful for “the existence of sanity in the daily madness that was his work.” He is also grateful for his morning coffee, or a nip of grappa with his wife at the end of the day. We will often find Armand appreciating a stew simmering in the kitchen fragrant with red wine and rosemary as he enters his home, or the welcoming chatter of his friends around the fire at the bistro.

Both men are very good at their jobs. Yet ego plays no part. It’s intelligence, patience, empathy. They perform acts of kindness daily. It may be sending a young officer home to rest after a gruelling morning (say, to pull a corpse out of a canal), or to offer advice to a young recruit. In the course of an investigation, they consistently show kindness to people they interview. They listen. Wait until someone is ready to share their story. They are generous with their time.

Mindful, grateful, kind. These qualities make them immensely likeable characters. I also think it contributes to their happiness. Because at the end of the day, despite the darkness lurking around them, they find happiness.

It makes me quite happy to curl up with one of these books and enjoy the good company of Guido or Armand. I hope you can take the time today to do something that makes you happy.

Be Mindful • Be Grateful • Be Kind

https://www.dayofhappiness.net/

Endnote: In the first book of the series, Commissario Brunetti is already complaining of the tourists descending on Venice and crowding the piazzas and the narrow calles. Stopping, snapping photos, and obscuring his path. Donna Leon wrote this book in 1992 which was the year I was one of those pesky tourist! Looking back at my photos from 1992, the images are indeed crowded with tourists like myself. Apologies Guido.