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The Problem of Happiness
True stories by ordinary people are commonly referred to as the “nobody memoir.” We lack the plot line of celebrity. No rags turned to riches. No lonely child turned superstar. We are still working on the arcs of our plots. Neither famous nor infamous, the typical nobody memoirist describes the most intense incidents of a lifetime. Drama emerges from adventure, adversity, angst, or abuse. The protagonist climbs a mountain or rows an ocean, walks a thousand-miles on a treacherous seaside trail, confronts an abusive past, recounts her recovery from rape, exposes a dysfunctional family.
Popular memoirs dig deep into the wounded psyche. Triumphant narrators emerge, healed by the crucible of experience. This creates a problem for writers’ lives deprived of high stakes adventure, poverty, or trauma.
My first experience with the problem of happiness was in a college social work internship. “You can’t truly understand your clients because you’ve never been poor,” my supervisor said. Just as I once questioned my ability to be an empathic social worker, I now ponder my ability to write memoir about a happy childhood. Several questions emerge—What is happiness, exactly? Did I really have a happy childhood? Is it possible to write an engaging memoir about a happy childhood?
An Internet search of synonyms commonly associated with the word “happy,” results in…
