Part 6: Happiness
Ode to Joy from the Beethoven Frieze, Gustav Klimt
Part 6
a. A representation of happiness and models of success
The aspirations that drive our characters reflect the society in which they live. But they do more than just reflect it: fiction helps to reinforce these aspirations and create norms.
What is a successful life? How should one live to be happy? These questions run through stories, whether in our characters’ goals, in what they desire, or in their fulfillment at the end of the story.
A Kind of Madness, 2025
Happiness according to cognitive science
Research in neuroscience and positive psychology points towards a definition of happiness that is quite different from the dominant portrayals in fiction. Two components recur consistently:
Well-being: a state of security, serenity and gratitude – in other words, the absence of threat and the ability to appreciate what is already there.
The quality of relationships: not being alone, and having frequent and meaningful interactions. Longitudinal studies on happiness (notably the Harvard study, conducted over more than 80 years) all point to the same conclusion: the most decisive factor in long-term well-being is neither professional success nor income, but the quality of human relationships. Having, quite literally, a house full of people.
One caveat is necessary, however: dignity takes precedence over happiness. Losing one’s dignity, self-esteem, and the ability to look oneself in the eye is experienced as worse than suffering. A character can endure loss, grief and failure, and remain at peace with themselves. A character who loses their dignity is broken.
Neither money nor power feature on this list. This directly challenges the dominant models of success in fiction, where consumption almost invariably serves as a visual marker of happiness (travelling to faraway places, a villa with a swimming pool, the accumulation of possessions…) alongside behaviours or desires that come at a very high environmental and climate cost.
As we have seen previously: outright condemnation of these desires and representations, or delivering a moral indictment, would be counterproductive. The aim, therefore, is to scrutinise these models and propose alternatives.
Resource:
On the quality of relationships, researchers Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz have popularised their research in the book The Good Life, Simon & Schuster, 2023
L.A. Confidential, 1997
The servitude of storytelling : The comeback
We do not necessarily perpetuate these narratives out of deep-seated convictions, but because they offer quick dramatic solutions: for symbols (a couple who have reconciled are going to spend the weekend in Venice…), to characterise a character (a character with a certain social status identified by their big car and their 150 m² flat), or to set up a situation (the barbecue as the ultimate symbol of conviviality). All these representations of positive values associated with carbon-intensive behaviour are more reflexes than deliberate choices… Yet, whether intentionally or not, they end up perpetuating a subtle yet persistent equation: happiness and success as corollaries of carbon consumption.
The visual imagery of happiness is primarily crafted by our evil twin: advertising.
Fiction is a wonderful arena for criticising and satirising the advertising imagination. By definition, advertising links happiness to spending; fiction, on the other hand, can break free from this. An old second-hand bike will have more charm than a brand-new car. A swim in a river will stir more erotic excitement than dinner at a restaurant with panoramic views. By abandoning these clichés, not only do you align your view of the world with your values, but you also rid yourself of a whole host of hackneyed platitudes.
Travel : a textbook example
Travel alone encapsulates the full ambivalence of the subject.
It is commonly accepted that travel is a source of curiosity, escape, understanding of others and open-mindedness. Without making the traveller feel guilty – or criticising their desire to travel – we might ask: by spending every weekend in a different European city for the price of a Lyon–Marseille train ticket, don’t all the cities end up looking the same? Does going from the Starbucks in Rome to the one in Lisbon really broaden one’s horizons?
Compare that with this: looking forward to a trip, longing for it, preparing for it. Travelling by train, watching the scenery change, or jostling with the crowd in front of the Trevi Fountain whilst waiting for a chance to take a photo that 4,000 people have taken before us, just seconds before the spot is taken by someone else? This is where fiction has a real responsibility: not to be complicit in a fantasized image of travel, and to offer appealing alternatives more firmly rooted in reality.
True story:
An artist, who happens to be the sister of one of the co-authors of this toolkit, recently chose to travel down the River Aisne as one might travel down the Amazon. Taking her time, sleeping in a hammock, and seeking help from local people. The idea was to experience her journey more fully and more intensely than any other traveller who flies to Rio, ‘ticks off’ the sights listed in their guidebook, and returns home with a Corcovado souvenir bought at the airport.
Shifting the benchmarks of happiness
But beware of the Overton window. Presenting ideals that are too far removed from our reality too quickly can provoke rejection. On the other hand, we are convinced that our fellow citizens crave fulfilling human relationships and good health more than a new 4×4. We’re not proposing a model that’s completely detached from reality; we’re proposing a model that isn’t so far removed from everyday life, but which shifts our perspective slightly.
Ecology and mental health
Simplicity and environmentally positive behaviours are not beneficial solely for their ecological impact: we see every day that screens make us dependent, that people are searching for meaning through meditation apps and self-help books, that growing suffering is linked to isolation, and that society is becoming polarised due to a lack of collective spirit.
Yet a more sustainable lifestyle also leads to better mental health! Travelling differently, taking a step back from screens, opting for sustainable transport, or reflecting on our relationship with the natural world – all these things are good for the planet, but they are also sources of more authentic happiness and a more meaningful sense of fulfilment.
Did you know?
Pleasure
Neuroscience helps us understand that pleasure works through contrast. Intense, immediate pleasures (consumption, screen time) tend to be followed by a low, much like a comedown, and you constantly have to increase the dose. Conversely, doing things, connecting with others and a sense of mastery produce a slower but more stable sense of satisfaction, which doesn’t leave you with that after-effect. We therefore don’t offer ‘by default’; we propose forms of happiness that stand the test of time.
Practical leads
take three images of consumerism that symbolise a successful life, and think of a lower-carbon alternative.
For example, replace a chlorinated swimming pool with a stream at the bottom of the garden.
b. Lifestyles: Silent encouragement (nudging & sludging).
To normalise is to showcase a habit.
A character who lives or acts without comment establishes a silent norm (taking the train by default, cooking vegetarian meals, repairing rather than throwing away). By repeating certain actions, settings and habits, fiction can gradually make them familiar. From then on, they are no longer constraints or moralising ideas, but simply a world in which these behaviours already exist.
Fiction possesses a means of influence that is all the more formidable for being entirely silent: the nudge or sludge through behaviours (“lifestyles”) that can be expressed in the narrative without ever needing to be emphasised, made explicit or discussed.
Before Sunrise, 1995
Gentle encouragement (a ‘nudge’)
highlights the ease, obviousness or benefits of eco-friendly lifestyles.
Fit characters who eat a vegan diet without identifying as vegan.
A crime thriller set in a gourmet restaurant where the menu is plant-based.
Characters who use sustainable or carbon-free transport and have pleasant encounters
Gentle disincentives (sludge, molasses)
highlight, by contrast, the friction and inconveniences associated with behaviours the author wishes to condemn.
The motorist stuck in a traffic jam.
Indigestion after a meal with too much meat.
A huge, luxurious house filled with expensive objects but devoid of human presence.
In fact, nudges and sludge are like prose: we use them without realising it, whether we mean to or not.
All the characters in all our stories can quietly promote and help to normalise virtuous behaviour… Or not.
In fact, if your characters behave as if they were living in a world of infinite resources, with no climate concerns, and oblivious to biodiversity, you’re also practising ‘nudge’—but to the benefit of anti-ecological narratives…
Writing consciously means realising that what we write has an influence, whether we mean it to or not, and that if we do not choose to contribute to change, we are contributing to the status quo.
END-OF-CHAPTER CHECKLIST
Housing
Where do my characters live?
What is my characters' relationship to resources (water, energy, etc.).
Resource:
What if your characters lived in co-housing communities? More info here.
Professions
My characters’ professions…
Ressource:
Blind Spots Box
Professions can be affected in various ways by environmental issues:
They are under threat or becoming more vulnerable.
They are undergoing change.
They are being developed or created as a result of environmental changes.
In the health, social and personal care sectors:
Support for vulnerable groups or those affected by environmental disasters (the elderly who die during heatwaves, victims of natural disasters).
Psychological support, particularly in relation to eco-anxiety or indirect mental health issues (‘the COVID generation’).
Support for indirect victims: there are higher rates of domestic violence, sexual and sexual violence, and femicide during heatwaves.
Prevention and awareness-raising regarding the link between good health and environmental responsibility (diet).
In education, research and culture:
Research and teaching on the ecological crisis and transition.
Conservation of nature and living organisms.
Retail, sales and catering:
The decline of certain food production sectors: horse butchers.
Growing awareness of animal welfare.
Changes in certain consumption patterns.
Repair, circular economy.
In construction, energy and industry
Working conditions affected by heatwaves and extreme weather events (construction).
The energy-efficient refurbishment sector.
The development of renewable energy and the decline of fossil fuels.
In IT and engineering.
Innovation and research into the green transition.
Research into digital frugality (particularly with regard to AI).
In finance, law and HR management
Adaptation of professions in insurance in the face of new climate risks.
Environmental taxation.
Green investment and finance.
CSR roles.
In transport and logistics
Decarbonisation of transport.
The decline of carbon-intensive sectors (road hauliers, transport fleets)
Development of rail and soft mobility (bicycle repairers).
In agriculture, the environment and green spaces
Exposure to pesticides
Agricultural transitions (towards organic and sustainable farming).
Water management (water agency, dispute over mega-reservoirs).
Waste sorting and recycling.
Animal welfare in the meat and dairy sectors.
In culture, the media and the arts
Media coverage of environmental issues.
Sections or media dedicated to the environment (Vert, Bon pote).
Eco-prod certification.
Government, justice, defence.
Public administration : driving of public policies on the ecological transition (Ministry, ADEME, water agency, OFB).
Environmental policing.
Police: Increase in insecurity linked to temperatures.
Customs: excessive consumption of ‘mini-parcels’ imported from China.
Labour Inspectorate: Compliance with working conditions, particularly for professions exposed to climate change.
Politics: COP, environmental diplomacy.
The ideas proposed here were developed with Charles Ménard, of the Observatoire de la Fiction.
Food
What do my characters eat?
Where do they do their shopping?
Transport
How do my characters get around on a daily basis?
Where do my characters like to spend their holidays?
Resource:
For more information, the articles on mobility by BonPote are very well written.