Get some satisfaction Finding simple pathways to happiness It’s the Little Things
By: Eva Wasney, Jen Zoratti, Jill Wilson, Ben Sigurdson Posted: 2:00 AM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 1, 2026 Last Modified: 6:34 AM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 1, 2026 Updates

We can all agree that everything feels dire right now. The Earth is on fire. Warmongers are in charge. AI slop is replacing art. The second season of Heated Rivalry isn’t due until 2027.

So how do you find happiness? What combination of yoga, meditation, high protein, low stress, weight-bearing exercise, moisturizing and scented candles will be the magic bullet?

The answer is perhaps not so complicated: It’s the little things.

In this monthly feature, the Free Press collects small actions, including reader suggestions, that can have big results. Some of them will be hyper-specific — a song, a meme, a movie, a meal — while others are general nudges toward mindful behaviour that can bear rewards.

These suggestions aren’t intended to be a panacea. But we hope you find an idea or two that helps you chill out, gives you the giggles or distracts you from destruction.

 

Scroll … your camera roll

This time of year always comes with mixed emotions. There’s the melancholic tug of another summer gone by and the building excitement of a return to routine.

In an attempt to stave off a full-blown case of the September Sads, I’ve been revisiting the photos and videos I’ve taken on my phone during the whirlwind past few months.

This is scrolling with the purpose of thoughtful reminiscing, not searching for content to populate an Instagram highlight reel. Though, that can be fun too.

My camera roll is full of friendly faces, shared memes, picturesque sunsets and silly videos that will never see the light of day. Each digital frame (even the blurry ones) is a reminder of a real-life moment I experienced this summer.

Instead of getting wistful about the stuff I didn’t check off my “summer bucket list,” I’ve been feeling grateful about all the things I did and all the people I did them with.

As I scroll, I’ve also been practising pebbling — a term derived from penguin behaviour that refers to the act of sharing small tokens of affection with others — by sending photos to the people involved. That way the connections can carry on well after the event.

— Eva Wasney

Appreciate little works of creative genius

Allow me to interrupt your doomscrolling with 22 Songs About Springfield (@22songsaboutspringfield), a gem of an account on Instagram.

The premise is deceptively simple: the creator (who is anonymous but I strongly suspect is Canadian based on some of the musical choices) takes a popular song — Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark and Talking Heads’ Burning Down the House are all recent entries — and matches up the lyrics with illustrative scenes from The Simpsons. They are arranged as photo carousels, not videos, so you can swipe along with the song, which is how I recommend engaging with it.

These are, I’m not kidding, works of art. There really is a Simpsons scenario for everything, but there’s creative genius required; you can tell these are assembled by a fan with a mental Rolodex of images (even the account’s name is a Simpsons reference, an allusion to the Season 7 episode 22 Short Films About Springfield).

Obviously, most of them are funny — pairing an image of the Springfield Harmonica Store being hit by a hurricane to the line “and all you hear are the rusty breezes” from the Tragically Hip’s Wheat Kings is, I think we can all agree, very good — but like the source material, there are odd moments of poignancy, too.

— Jen Zoratti

Let your pet be your alarm clock

Most often we realize too late the beauty of the world around us and cannot go back.

My favourite little thing is: When our son’s boxer, Bowser, comes quietly around to my side of the bed and puts his head by my face. It wouldn’t be so bad, but this is five in the morning.

He’s saying, “Get up and lie with me on the sofa.”

The city has only begun to open its eyes with all the noise and bustle it entails. It is a beautiful time to cuddle up with that warm, 65-pound fur bear.

We just lie there and soak in the quiet tranquility. And I think to myself what a wonderful life I have.

— Free Press reader Patrick Bend

Become a regular

The pandemic and the rise of online delivery services have made eating in easier and more appealing than ever, and I will never argue that the ability to suddenly and with no effort be eating sushi in your pyjamas is a bad thing.

But it means we’re missing out, not only on human connection (please do not make me interact with the delivery person), but on the delightful experience of being a regular at a bar or restaurant.

In a recent Esquire story called The Lost Art of Being a Regular, Mark Alan Burger nails the social aspect of hanging out with a gang of fellow regulars, writing, “It’s community building in the most basic sense — it’s not home, it’s not work, and while it’s not necessarily private, it’s an experience I opt into. In a time when we’re constantly, if subconsciously, self-selecting our worldview and algorithm into hyper-personalized bubbles, getting to know someone who’s not your age, who’s not in your tax bracket, who doesn’t live in the same corner of the internet as you — that’s needed now more than ever.”

Bellying up to the bar with strangers who become friends is one part of the fun, but another part is simpler still: there’s a tiny little thrill you get when a server not only knows your drink order, but gives you that extra pickled onion for your Gibson.

It’s like the Cheers theme song says, “sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.”

— Jill Wilson

DIY home projects

I’m wildly clumsy when it comes to anything to do with home renos — I’ve cut myself painting, for crying out loud (and more than once).

My partner, however, is extremely handy and loves taking on projects around the house; she and her dad built a handsome shed in our backyard a few years ago.

When we discovered a couple of torn screens in our back porch earlier this summer, it meant some fixups were in order. When prepping to replace the screens, we found some rotting wood, making what would have been a relatively small fix much larger.

My partner insisted we could do the work ourselves and I begrudgingly acquiesced. I’ve mainly been in charge of tearing out the rotting stuff, while she’s been spearheading the measuring and the sawing and the many trips to the hardware store.

While I didn’t initially find it fun, the joy she feels in the do-it-yourself renos must have been contagious, as I’ve been shocked by how much I’ve come to enjoy the project.

We’re not fast, but it’s been fun, and every small step feels like a real accomplishment. (And I’ve not cut myself once … yet.)

— Ben Sigurdson

Have a path to happiness you’d like to suggest? Email arts@winnipegfreepress.com with the subject line ‘Little Things’ and we’ll run it in a future edition. Please include your full name.

arts@winnipegfreepress.com