Sami’s Blog: Happy Triple Treat

I have a triple treat for you this week with a trifecta of happy stories. 

There is a new café in Japan called ‘’The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders’’ and I am here for it.  You ask for dumplings but you may get miso soup. You may think it is crazy but it’s a restaurant where they almost guarantee your order will be muddled up and yet customers keep going back because they love it so much.  Many of the staff of this innovative place are living with dementia. They may or may not get the orders right, but the message is we can be more accepting of everyone.

Having dementia is not a flaw, it is in fact the feature and the main requirement to get the job. How fabulously refreshing.

The project presents people living with dementia as happy, hard-working, helpful, and gracious.  And instead of reacting to dementia as frightening,  the customers describe their experience as fun, engaging and incredibly satisfying.

During one sitting 37% of orders were totally mixed up and yet 99% of customers said they were happy with their meal.

My second serving of happy this week comes in the form of a new collaboration between Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus. The “Wrecking Ball” duet gave me chills in a good way as Dolly puts her iconic spin on her God daughter’s tune.  I cannot get enough of this duo who have added a special twist to the end, bringing in a few verses from “I Will Always Love you.”

And, lastly for my triple treat, I implore you to put your Christmas tree up as soon as possible. Run, do not walk.  Some experts claim those of us Christmas tragics who put up their decorations earlier tend to be happier and friendlier. These psychologists claim decorating before December spikes dopamine, the feel-good hormone.  They say the colours and light act as chromotherapy also known as colour therapy. Others say it is simply a matter of hanging decorations makes us feel nostalgic and who doesn’t love a trip down memory lane. So, feel free to trim the tree and put on carols and I bet you feel all the good feels.