The Basic Psychology of why Bimble Makes us Happy
by Eden Murray
A few years ago, I took a class at Yale called the Psychology of Happiness. We were asked what would make us most happy in our lives.
Answers? “get that job”, “make a 6-figure salary”, or “win X award by the time I’m 30”. Yup. Most people overcount the satisfaction they feel from their accomplishments. But is this what truly makes us happy? Yale says not.
To understand why success doesn’t always make us happy, we need to think about some of the feel-good hormones, namely, Serotonin and Dopamine. People often believe that dopamine, for instance, can move an individual to a prolonged happy state; most things correlated with dopamine, however, aren’t actually beneficial for promoting long-term well-being. Although setting goals — aka, striving for that job — can increase these hormone levels, when the reality of that job hits, they flood away, and there you find yourself, on to the next one: the action of relentless goal setting can be dangerous when left unchecked! Prompted by our professor, we set about finding new sources of happiness that might be longer-lasting. We suggested things like working out, good food, pets or a warm hug from Granny. Although these were closer, our answers did not suffice.
Step forward, Serotonin.
Serotonin is relevant because it’s involved in developing a person’s internal dialogue for thinking habitual positive thoughts (Breuning, 2015). Anytime we have prolonged pleasant thoughts, share a memorable experience, or try something new and savour the moment, our brains release serotonin.
Amidst the pandemic, an overwhelming amount of people are struggling to produce this key hormone; individuals aren’t frequenting their favourite spots as often, nor are they hanging out with friends and making important memories. While this is upsetting, it’s not entirely detrimental to us improving our personal well-being. A human can still reflect on past positive experiences; in other words, we can still give gratitude for the things that we have and savour any good experiences had during Corona.
So, how do Serotonin, gratitude, and Bimble all connect?
- Serotonin is released when we think happy thoughts, such as giving gratitude for things, or savouring happy moments.
- Bimble is the platform that enables people to give thanks by way of savouring their special places, past and present, with the people they love.
When individuals use Bimble, they not only make their life as well as the lives around them easier, they also leave the app feeling happier. Taking the time to save a place on Bimble, which often has a core memory attached to it, makes people pause to think about what’s important to them; It’s like journaling, but with easy access to all the best stories. Core memories are the opposite of fleeting moments because they establish a baseline serotonin production that can usually be hard to remove. WOW.
This is not to discredit the importance of other “happy hormones”, they all have a purpose. Yet simply acting in healthy ways, such as exercising to feel better, isn’t enough. We need to rewire our brains to think positively, to reflect on pleasurable experiences, and to savour any future endeavours. Bimble doesn’t flourish in favourable contexts only. It can flourish when we share our own memories.
Take a trip down memory lane, it’s good for you and it’s good for the community
Every time you create a Bimble list of places with happy memories, you savour the good times all over again. As a bonus, you’re also doing a favour to the places themselves by celebrating them and telling the Bimble community why you think they’re special. Try it on bimble.com
