“Happiness” means something different to everyone. Some may find it in travel, while gazing into a loved one’s eyes, cuddling with kittens, sky-diving, sitting in silence for hours, volunteering at an old folks’ home, climbing mountains, pumping iron after work — the list, of course, goes on and on. In short, there are as many ways to find happiness as there are people walking around on this planet.
Even though happiness can mean so many things, it’s important to understand the role it plays in our individual lives. Owning our happiness can motivate us to pursue our goals, inspire us to make changes in our lives, and make it that much easier for us to spread joy around the world.
That’s why, at Greatist, we’re constantly thinking about what it means to be happy and how we can enable our readers to find their own happiness every day. So we want to know: What makes you happy? How do you cultivate joy and contentment in your own life? How do you find and define happiness?
To give readers a forum for sharing these answers, we’re announcing the launch of Greatist’s first-ever Writing Contest: “How I Find Happiness.” The top three stories (as determined by Greatist’s editorial team) will be featured right here on Greatist.com. So get writing, and share your happiness with the rest of us!
The Winnings
We want to hear what how you find happiness. We also want to give you some cool swag!
- Winning Entry
The winning entry will be featured at the end of July. The writer will receive:- A featured spot on Greatist.com’s homepage
- Promotion and lots of love from Greatist’s social media accounts
- A goody bag of Greatist swag
- A badge for her or his personal website
- Runners-Up
Between July 15 and July 28, we’ll feature two of our favorite entries on the site. Writers of featured entries will receive:- A featured spot on Greatist.com’s Happiness page
- Promotion on Greatist’s Facebook and Twitter accounts
- A badge for her or his personal website
The Details
- Submissions will be accepted from now until 11:59 pm EST on July 1, 2013
- Stories can be up to 1,500 words and must not have been published elsewhere (including personal blogs)
- Multimedia is encouraged, but not required
- Greatist ambassadors are unable to apply (But we still love you!)
- All submissions should be emailed to myhappyis@greatist.com. Be sure to include your name and contact information, and also let us know how you learned about Greatist
- Any questions can be sent to myhappyis@greatist.com
- Any and everyone (even folks who don’t submit an entry) are encouraged to post supplemental happiness-related photos and stories to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest with the hashtag #myhappyis. These materials are encouraged, but not at all required.
We’re so excited to read. Happy writing!
