Credit: Alyssa Ao

Join WSPN’s Sofia Ciciarelli as she speaks to three Wayland residents to discuss happiness and how it applies to their lives. “My cat brings me a lot of happiness,” library staff member Erica Leblang said. “He’s just so cute and I can cuddle him and he’s warm and he is really nice [and] calming. I love him.”

Join reporter Sofia Ciciarelli with WSPN’s newest Q&A column, The Happiness Series. In part one of this column, Ciciarelli spoke with Wayland residents to discuss happiness and how it applies to their lives. Cicarelli asked Wayland Public Library staff member Dominique Winn, Wayland Public Library staff member Erica Leblang and Wayland resident Courntney Tsiaras four questions about their happiness.

Are you happy?

“Right now, yeah, [I’m] pretty happy. I would say I am,” Winn said.

“I most certainly am happy,” Tsiaras said.

“Yes, [I am happy],” Leblang said. “I’m still wearing a mask. I’m still doing a fair amount of restrictions [for] COVID-19 just because I got pretty sick when I did get COVID-19. I do miss going into Boston. I used to go to the basketball games at BU and things like that. So I do miss that. But some of the things that go from just like baseline calm to happy happy, I haven’t been doing much of in the last  four years. But, yeah, I do a good job of being calm and taking time to [do] things that I enjoy.” 

What in life brings you the most happiness and why?

“People,” Winn said. “Being with people, helping them solve problems and speaking to someone in a library. That’s what I like to do. I really like to help people find what they need [by] unpacking a problem or unpacking a question.”

“My family brings me the most happiness,” Tsiaras said “They are my constants and I couldn’t imagine my life without them in it.”

“My cat brings me a lot of happiness,” Leblang said. “He’s just so cute. [I] can cuddle him, he’s warm and is really nice [and] calming. I love him. I also really like to read. It’s relaxing, especially when a book is funny. TV shows are also funny, but I read more than I watch TV. When something’s really well written, or really funny, I just want to share that it makes me happy.”

Who in your life brings you the most happiness and why?

“I have two family members, my husband and my daughter, [who bring me] the most happiness,” Winn said. “They’re [both] so positive. My husband’s really smart and has a lot of good, uplifting tips for life. My daughter is really positive. Her ringtone on my phone is one of these stadium-like cheers because she’s just really positive.”

“[My husband], Matt,” Tsiaras said. “I’ve known Matt longer than I haven’t known him. He knows me in and out and keeps me balanced. I’ve never gotten tired of him.”

“Right now, I don’t have a lot of people in my life,” Leblang said. “I mean, my family, [who] I don’t see a ton now, my cat and one of my coworkers who’s my work best friend. We complain about the same things, or say ‘isn’t that cute?’ ‘Isn’t that funny?’ [My coworker is] someone who I can commiserate with and we [share] a lot of the same pop culture references. I feel understood around [my coworker].”

What are some things you like to do to spread happiness to others?

“I give back to the community,” Winn said. “I [volunteer at] soup kitchens. I do things that sort of build hope. I participate in community things because I think bringing someone else joy or bringing someone out of their funk is a pretty important piece to happiness.”

“I love to bake and entertain others,” Tsiaras said. “Having friends [to share my hobbies with] makes me happy.”

“Sometimes, I see people start to look confused about something, [and I have the opportunity to] jump in and be like, whatever the issue is, I got it, I can help you. I really like to do that [to spread happiness],” Leblang said.