This week’s release of the 2026 World Happiness Report offers insight into how we’re feeling, prompting me to ask, “What makes you happy in 2026?”
Welcome to the 155th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a quote of the week. Along with insights from the World Happiness Report, this week’s edition looks at Toronto’s program to preserve green spaces, how Canada will meet increased electricity demand, and World Bear Day.
On my mind this week: What makes you happy in 2026?
Friday was International Day of Happiness. The World Happiness Report always provides food for thought, and this year is no exception.
This year Canada fell 7 spots to its lowest ranking in the 14 years since the inception of the report—ranking in 25th place. That’s slightly lower than our neighbours to the south who placed 23rd.
Canada’s drop in the ranking isn’t surprising. Imagine how you’d feel if you were bullied, belittled and threatened on a daily basis by your bigger, richer, and louder neighbour. But the fact that the U.S.A. doesn’t top of the list despite all its wealth should be a lesson for us all that society’s obsession with power and material wealth is guiding us down the wrong path.
The most disturbing finding of the report is the continued trend of unhappiness among the young. Canada ranks 71st out of 136 countries for happiness in the under-25 age group. This is a general trend in English-speaking countries. Our young people aren’t happy. Unsurprisingly, the report identified a strong link between heavy social media use and lower overall wellbeing. Since cutting back my social media use last year, I’ve noticed a difference in how I feel.
Creativity, connection and curiosity
All of this leads me to ask, “What makes you happy in 2026?” Here’s my top 5 list
- I couldn’t start this list with anything but my family. Although it’s hard having our daughters both living far away, I’m grateful for them every day.
- Then there’s my faith and the faith community that I’m a part of. It gives me hope amid all the negativity in the world.
- I can’t forget blogging, which provides both a creative outlet and a wonderful sense of community.
- Naturally, singing has to make the list. There’s no greater joy than making beautiful music with others.
- And finally, in recent years I’ve rediscovered the joy of reading. Curling up with a good book is one of life’s simplest pleasures.
Not surprisingly, there’s a thread of creativity, connection and curiosity here. More than wealth and power, I believe these are the keys to happiness.
Cultivating positive connections
You might argue that blogging is just a form of social media but I disagree, and so does the report. Online activities like messaging, learning, and creating content are connected to higher feelings of wellbeing. On the other hand, passive scrolling, gaming, and “browsing for fun” are linked to lower wellbeing.
I find the connections I have here in the blogging community are deeper and more thoughtful than many of the “real” connections I have on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Community and connection matter. If we want to improve the happiness and wellbeing of our young people, we need to find a way to get them connecting, creating and being curious about the world beyond their screens.
What makes you happy in 2026? Drop me a comment below and let me know.
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- On Tuesday, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with my mum and my sisters. It’s always fun to “wear the green” and celebrate our Irish heritage.
- Earlier in the week, I saw 10 red-winged blackbirds feasting at our feeder. I’ve never seen so many of them in one place before.
- On Friday, we went to the Kitchener Rangers final home game of the season. The Rangers outplayed the Sarnia Sting but lost the game 4-3 thanks to some questionable officiating in the third period.
Things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
Toronto takes steps to preserve green spaces
When I look at Toronto from the top of the CN Tower, I’m always surprised at the amount of green I see. Toronto’s Tree Seed Diversity Program aims to preserve that tree canopy by collecting seeds from native trees and shrubs, including our beloved sugar, silver, and red maples.
The goal of the seed diversity program is to build a strong and reliable collection of native plants to strengthen eco-system restoration across Toronto’s green spaces.
(Source: CBC News)
How Canada will meet increased demand for electricity
Canada’s national energy regulator released some interesting data about how we will meet our increased demand for electricity between now and 2050.
The capacity of our electricity system is projected to double between 2023 and 2050. The increase in production will be driven mostly by wind energy, and we also expect an increase in solar energy to supplement higher generation powered by existing hydroelectricity, nuclear and natural gas infrastructure.
Although the modelling also predicts consumption of oil and natural gas to remain relatively unchanged over the decades to come, it’s encouraging to see greener energy supporting the increased demand.
(Source: CBC News)
Tomorrow is World Bear Day
March 23 is World Bear Day. Did you know there are eight species of bear in the world? They are the North American black bear, the Asiatic black bear, the Brown bear (also known as the grizzly bear), the giant panda, the polar bear, the Andean bear, the sloth bear, and the sun bear.
I’ve only ever seen two of these bear species in the wild—the North American black bear and the Brown bear. They are a beautiful sight…from a distance. Here’s a photo we snapped of a black bear during our visit to British Columbia last spring.
Sadly, these intelligent omnivore are at risk, with six of the eight species threatened or endangered.
(Source: Happy Eco News)
Quote of the week
Rules for happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.
Immanuel Kant
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
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What brings happiness these days? The first things that spring to mind include: Time with small children in my Music Together classes. Singing at gigs in retirement communities. Eating delicious foods. The return of flowers around the neighborhood. Inviting lots of family over for a meal. And our blogging community!
That is a terrific list, Will. Music, togetherness, food, and spring. I love it! Thanks for sharing.
I think you’re right about the reasons for the low ranking. It’s insane the unnecessary pressure the U.S. is putting on Canada. I also agree about the effects of social media; in fact, there are two cases, in California and New Mexico, where social media companies are on trial for their adverse effects on teens. We’ll see what comes out of the trials.
I think the world is starting to wake up to the detrimental impacts of social media, Edward. I just hope we can turn the ship before it’s too late.
I hope so too.
What makes me happy, besides the love for and from my family, is going out to participate in cultural events with friends and eating the excellent food prepared by my husband!
The cubs are lovely!
Thanks, Cristiana. It’s always wonderful to enjoy delicious food…especially when someone else cooks it! 😀
How interesting about the World Happiness report. I’m surprised the US ranked higher than Canada. Your explanation of being bullied certainly makes sense. But having to live with a bully is no picnic either and you’d think it’d be reflected!
10 redwing blackbirds – that’s amazing. I think I’ve only seen one at a time.
Love you list of what makes you happy! Your comment about creating content makes so much sense to me! So grateful for this community of thoughtful bloggers. Thank you, Michelle!
It’s really sad that people in countries where we have so much are so unhappy, Wynne. I truly believe it’s because we (society in general) are chasing the wrong thngs. I’m not sure how we solve that other than each of us adapting our own lives and hoping others see it and wake up.
Thanks for being part of my blogging community, Wynne. We are truly richer for all the wisdom and kindness we have access to here.
With you all the way, Michelle! “Cultivating positive connections”…oh my goodness, yes! Thank you for being part of my community, dear friend. The company we keep? It’s never mattered more. Xo! ❤️😉❤️
Right! The community we have here is so special. I don’t find this on any other online platform. It’s full of thoughtful and engaging content and conversations. I appreciate you, Vicki! In this messed-up world we live in, these real and respectful connections are critical.
Have a wonderful week, my friend! ❤️🤗❤️
Feeling all of that! Perfectly put! Sending big hugs…thanks for being you, Michelle! ❤️😉❤️
I’m in agreement with you (and many in the comments). I quit social media over a decade ago. I didn’t leave blogging because it does feel inherently different; it’s more intentional, authentic, thoughtful, and vulnerable in many cases. At least in this little corner of the blogosphere, there is no “look at me!” and no over-the-top drama, but instead true connection and the desire to support one another.
Happiness for me is time in nature, seeing my nieces smile, cooking healthy food for people I love, and dreaming of how the future might unfold.
So true, Erin. One of the things I love about WordPress is I choose who to follow and that often leads me to other content I’m genunely interested in. There is no algorithm putting content in my feed just because it’s trending or someone has paid to put it there.
Yes, that’s so true!
Blogging is very different from the other forms of social media you mentioned because many of them are snapshots of someone’s life. Blogging allows us to connect with others intellectually and on a deeper level.
Exactly! The depth of content and connection is what makes blogging different, Pete. Most social media platforms are designed for clickbait and tiny snippets of content rather than anything meaningful.
I read the report this week too and I’m not surprised at all at the correlation between social media and unhappiness. I’m troubled by its impact on the young and I’m glad there are efforts being made to ban the use of it for minors.
On the hockey game last night, I saw an ad featuring Connor McDavid and other NHL stars encouraging young people to get off their screens and spend time with people. It was good to see.
I’m coming around to agreement with LA about blogging as something not to be lumped into social media. I am not on any other platforms so in a personal way it is “social” for me as my way to connect with my own select group, but it’s also so much more 🙂
Happiness right now is being back out hiking and not finding muddy trails, crafting, sitting in the sun to read, learning enough about how to use my air fryer to finally feel confident enough to bake up batches of my favorite breakfast muffins!
I think people lump blogging together with social media because, to the person passively consuming online content, it’s hard to see the difference.
Another key difference in my mind is the reason people blog. Social media is filled with people trying to make a name for themselves and amass a huge following so they can make money. During the pandemic, we saw a lot of bloggers who were here trying to do that. When it didn’t happen, most of them left. Those of us who stick around truly are here for the creativity, community and engagement.
And yes to non-muddy trails. Our trails are a bit of a quagmire between the snow melt and all the rain we’ve been having. They will dry up eventually!
I’ve written about blogging and whether or not it qualifies as social media, because I don’t think it’s the same, but it’s a divided issues amongst people. what makes me happy is reading, my pets, good conversation, the broad based culture, and having an organized space
I think there’s a big difference between consuming and regurgitating the words of others, and actually sitting down, gathering your thoughts, and writing your own content. I was happy to see that acknowledged in the report. People who don’t blog don’t get it. They think it just magically happens!
Good conversation and having an organized space. I could have had those on my list. There’s so much to be happy about.
Thanks for being here, LA, and enjoy your Sunday.
you as well