Pushkin.

Being a podcaster means you sometimes get some strange and unexpected deliveries.

You see whenever I read an ad for the show it's only for a product that I know and like and that means I'm often checking out new products before advertising them to you on the

happiness lab.

I often come home to random packages waiting for me on my doorstep.

Our ads are what keeps the show going, which means you can keep listening to The Happiness Lab for free.

But the other reason I love our advertisers is that the people who work at the companies who sponsor us

are usually fans of the Happiness Lab just like you.

That's why they want to support the show and all the work we do.

Take for example my most recent delivery, a colorful box of soaps and cleaners which had a handwritten note

inside. We are so excited to work with you. We are big fans and said please enjoy some of our favorite products. Thanks Mrs. Myers

These scented samples arrived at the absolute perfect time because over the past few months I've been on a bit of an

olfactory journey. It's a challenge I started after I chatted with the great

happiness expert Gretchen Rubin. For some people I think that this can be kind of an

overlooked sense.

Last year I spoke to Gretchen about her new book Life and Five Censes, which explores how we can get more joy from paying attention

to the sights and sounds around us, but also to the smells.

Gretchen says we often neglect the impact that odor can have on us.

She told me I should try harder to curate the smells that surround me.

There's both eliminating the negative, which is what are the things that surround me. There's both eliminating the negative which is what

are the things that are bringing you down or draining you and then the adding which is what

are the things that will make it feel richer. So you could say like okay I'm in my

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