What makes you truly happy? My new novel, One Summer in Venice, is about a search by the main character, Addolorata, for the 10 things that make her happy – but compiling her personal recipe for joy is much trickier than she’d imagined. I asked some well-known Kiwi women to share their own lists of what brings them happiness. This week, TV One news presenter Bernadine Oliver-Kerby shares the things that make her heart sing.
- Babies – mine or other people’s. From little chubby legs tumbling out the front of a pram, to a newborn safely cocooned into his or her mum – I could inhale them anytime, anywhere.
- Blue sky. Simply waking up to the brilliant blue, or driving around on a sunny day with the windows down, makes me feel energised
- Hearing my girls Maisey (7) and Scarlett (6) laugh so hard they can’t stop – and the laughing turns to snorting and gasping for air. You can’t help but laugh along too.
- Family holidays. We love to travel and always gravitate back to the US. It’s starting to get embarrassing, though, when Mum wants a photo with Tinkerbell and Periwinkle too!
- Daydreaming... I look up and see giant planes taking people on adventures, to meet loved ones, start new lives and visit bucket list destinations. I don’t know where the plane is going but I wish I was on it too.
- Giving things away. I get a bigger kick out of giving things to people in need than making a profit from surplus stuff on TradeMe.
- Childhood memories. Roller-skating around Te Awamutu with my brother, eating the feijoas that carpeted the ground at Nana’s house and running around her big backyard.
- Sleep. What is that again? My daughter told me the other day she was nocturnal.
- Good coffee. Life is too short to drink the bad stuff. It’s an all-round pick-me-up tonic.
- Hugs. My children are world champions at this, and it’s true – the best things in life are free.
