Amy Childs

How I Became a Happiness Consultant

I have been investigating what it is to be human for as long as I can remember. In this quest I dissect the things that “everyone knows” to be true, and it’s always exciting for me when I uncover a new, unexpected, and often murky course that leads to fun and joy. Without conventional training, inner guidance has trained me to use my life to study humanness, constantly asking the question “what makes people truly happy?” I implement all that I have discovered, in the process of living my own life to the fullest.

I was raised by nurturing parents and had a pleasant childhood. I feel extremely lucky that in my formative years I did not experience much (if any) shame, violence, manipulation or fear. I credit my parents for raising me in a way that allowed my inner self to remain intact (albeit hidden), preparing the way for deeper explorations in my future. In my childhood environment, my ability to think clearly and creatively was able to develop naturally and without barriers.

In my teen years I lived in a small Christian community, and without question accepted its belief system as my own. At age 19 I married the most eligible bachelor in town, a minister 10 years my senior, and we moved to New Zealand (his new pastorate) a few days after our wedding. This sudden change precipitated what I consider the big crisis of my life - a time of intense questioning of many unconscious assumptions. I discovered that my previously unchallenged beliefs about God, religion, the United States, government, marriage, and the purpose of life on earth, were causing more confusion and harm for me than joy and freedom. My husband did not understand, appreciate, or share my journey, which left me in what seemed to be an impossible position. At that time I became pregnant with the first of my three children, and decided that “making the best of things” would be my strategy for having a fun life regardless of life’s circumstances.

For 15 years I lived the life of a mother and “happily married” minister’s wife. This required severe repression of some parts of myself, but at the same time it reinforced my notion that I could make life fun no matter what. When we returned to the States and then later to the small religious town that I had grown up in, I chose to ignore the incongruities and appreciate what it had to offer. I enjoyed raising our children in a close community, and found many ways to create bonds with other women and mothers. To help support the family in ways that were fun for me, I ran a daycare center in my home, and started my own professional organizing business. Although I did not experience true inner partnership with my husband, I worked to build a friendship with him that supported our common desire to raise our children in a peaceful and nurturing home. (click here to continue)