Do you have a happy place?

Do you have a happy place? And can you have more than one?

We think so. Disney might lay claim to the term “The Happiest Place on Earth,” but we believe that everyone can—and should—have a few different happy places. And everyone should have a happy place that’s readily accessible. It’s fine if one of your happy places is at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro or a meaningful room in a building that was torn down years ago. You can still travel to those places in your mind. But it’s helpful to have a place you can realistically go to whenever you need it.

And some people have happy places that are strictly associated with other people or beings, such as: “My happy place is with my nephews and my dog at the park by our house.” That’s wonderful, too. And, yet, still, we want to make the case for reserving a happy place that is only contingent on you.

It doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t have to be deeply meaningful. Perhaps it’s a certain chair in your living room that catches afternoon sunlight just right for a few minutes on wintry days. Maybe your happy place switches to your garden in the summer months.

We know more than a few people whose happy places involve sitting by the fireplace with a hot cup of coffee in either the University Club’s Fireside Room or in the lobby of the Saint Paul Athletic Club.

Maybe you already have a few happy places but you haven’t labeled them as such. Simply cultivating those positive associations with a space can have a powerful impact on your mood and perspective whenever you enter that space.

Where is your happy place?