It’s time to get serious about playfulness! When was the last time you felt really, truly happy? If you’ve ever longed to leave your exhausting days and fretful nights behind, look no further. Courtney recounts a courageous—and often hilarious!—experiment in joy and delight as she awakens to the truth that God doesn’t just want us to be holy, but happy, too! A whimsical storyteller who combines witty humor and engaging research with unfettered honesty, in Happy Now Courtney Ellis is a wise guide on an uplifting journey from sad to spirited. You’ll discover there is almost nothing that playfulness cannot make a little bit better, a little bit easier, and a lot more fun. Lift your mood, lighten your load, and renew your spirit with the power of playfulness. Happy Now: Let Playfulness Lift Your Load and Renew Your Spirit is a rollicking, investigative, and thoughtful invitation to open ourselves to the joy and freedom of play all over again. It is designed to invite readers to let go of their most serious selves, grant them permission to engage in curiosity and wonder of all kinds, and delight in the release of its transformative effects: creativity, innovation, delight, rest, and—above all—a more trusting relationship with Jesus. Through wry observations, firsthand experience, Scriptural study, and broad research, Ellis addresses questions like: How does God invite us into play? What does it mean that we are created for curiosity? In what ways can wonder help us love our neighbors more fully? The world can be a serious place. Because of Jesus, Christians don’t need to be. Dive deeply into the waters of whimsy, embracing the joy God offers. Sometimes that looks like welcoming holy laughter. Other times it’s learning to see mistakes as learning and innovation rather than mess-making. Play brings about transformation and rest and praise. And isn’t that just the reason God created us?

"Nick Zinner may be a man of few words, but who needs to talk when you can say so much with the click of a shutter button? The rock press has been striving for more than thirty years to show what life is like for a band on the road. In his own quiet way, by snapping a shot of every crowd the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have played for, every hotel room they've left in disarray, and every moment of consequence they've had together, Zinner makes hacks of us all and brings us behind the music for real." -- Jenny Eliscu, Rolling Stone In four years the Yeah Yeah Yeahs went from underground sensation to internationally acclaimed rock band. Through the lens of his camera, lead guitarist Nicholas Zinner documented the group's meteoric rise to fame. From the Grammys to the concerts, Nick captured the glamour, debauchery and road-weary tedium of his world. I hope you are all happy now gives readers a never-before-seen look at rock 'n' roll. This collection includes essays by Jim Jarmusch, director of Coffee and Cigarettes, and comedian David Cross.

Is happiness something that you believe will come attached to some future event or a special person? Are you postponing happiness until you have the ideal job, live in your dream home, find the perfect mate, retire, or some other future situation? If you find yourself caught up in these thoughts or are missing passion, joy, or inner peace, then this book is for you! Through a series of practical lessons, you will learn the tools for raising self-awareness, leading to a path of personal transformation, which will allow you to experience a life of peace and happiness.

Experience more joy and meaning each day—and have greater resilience when times get tough What if you could be happier, right now, without radically changing your life? As nationally recognized happiness expert Nataly Kogan teaches, happiness is not a nice feeling or a frivolous extra. It’s a critical, non-negotiable ingredient for living a fulfilling, meaningful, and healthy life—and it’s a skill that we can all learn and improve through practice. In Happier Now, Nataly shares an illuminating, inspiring, and science-based guide to help you build your happier skills and live with more joy, starting now. Nataly’s own journey from Russian refugee to successful investor, tech executive, and founder and CEO of Happier taught her an important lesson: no matter how much you accomplish, how much you live the "right" way, or even how much gratitude you practice, life won’t always be smooth. "We experience genuine and lasting happiness when we stop trying to turn the negative into the positive," Nataly writes, "and when we embrace the full range of our human emotions with compassion and strength." Throughout this engaging guide, Nataly describes how she went from being cynical and resistant to the ideas behind self-improvement and spirituality, to studying everything she could on the science of happiness, to completely shifting her mind-set. You’ll learn five core practices for building your happier skills—acceptance, gratitude, intentional kindness, knowing your bigger why, and self-care—along with the scientific research that supports each one. Highlights include: Daily Anchors—Cultivate a custom set of simple daily practices, fine-tuned for your emotional health needs • Bring more joy and meaning into your life as it is—without needing to make difficult or time-consuming changes • How happiness leads to many of the things you want in life, rather than results from them • Learn an effective five-minute happier workout for whenever you need a boost • Strengthen your "emotional immune system" so you can be okay when times are tough—and bounce back to happy sooner • Specific instructions for tools and techniques that work—based on what’s actually happening in your brain • Effective exercises, journaling prompts, and key insights for developing each core happier skill As Nataly says: "It’s time to stop saying ‘I’ll be happy when . . .’ and start saying ‘I’m happier now because . . .’"

THE STORY: A chance encounter at a conference hotel plays upon Kitty's mind as she struggles to balance personal freedom with family life, fidelity and a testing job. Her husband seems more interested in misplaced apostrophes than his marriage, her

"Katie B. Smith places a spotlight on areas that need further development to strengthen one's ability to make smarter decisions and reach desired outcomes. I now have more fulfilling relationships, career opportunities, and a genuine expression of myself. If you are stuck envisioning your next chapter and are willing to do the work, Katie's integrative method will enhance you, your mission and your life " - Elaine DiLisio, President, Cordillera Advisor Group Everyone wants to be happy, yet most are preoccupied with stress, over-extension, and discouraging thoughts. While appearing to be successful, they feel stuck and plagued by negative self-talk. For the first time, certified executive coach, Katie B. Smith, shares her sought after professional guidance with the masses. In this book, you receive her strategies to move beyond fear and into the conscious choice of embracing fulfillment, love, and happiness - even amidst challenges. Hone the practices to: - Move from tolerating to accepting - Break negative thinking - Live with ease and less stress - Have fun, pleasure, and joy - Acknowledge and love yourself - Create a new personal and professional future Katie B. Smith speaks from the creative space of inner wisdom, years of corporate experience, and her journey into wellness, meditation and yoga. Her information is communicated in the language of the business world, but with a Zen twist - from the inside out. Her Results Focused Coaching shines a light on the person, not issues. Katie works with business owners, senior executives, and career professionals in the art of integrating their body, mind and heart to harness happiness and have the life and work they deserve. To learn more, please visit www.katiebsmith.com.

On September 11, 2001, Alison Lanza Falls had a great career as a Wall Street banker, a caring and supportive family, and an enormous secret. She was silently and profoundly unhappy. Nine years after watching smoke billow from the World Trade Center where she was heading for a meeting, Alison began an incredible journey of personal transformation, with guidance from David Prudhomme, mind coach and founder of Mederi Wellness. While chronicling the evolution of her remarkable life, Alison shares her unique experiences and important life lessons using Prudhommes framework, The Best Me NOW!, that guided her through an experiential process on how to choose emotions, let go and feel free, practice forgiveness, release deep-seated fears, love herself and others unconditionally, and accept and embrace her uniqueness. Alisons story reveals simple, practical lessons for anyone interested in improving self-talk, applying universal truths in a professional setting, and preparing the mind for excellence, proving that positive change is not only possible, but also that it follows a specific path of perception, awareness, and choice. Be Happy NOW! combines two unique voices to share an inspiring story of transformation and life lessons intended to guide others on how to attain authentic happiness and a true understanding of self.