Happiness

The 2016 survey aimed at measuring the link between cultural life and social well-being, matches up with the rest of the world when it comes to this bottom line: Regardless of how much money you have or what type of work you do, if you are culturally active, you are happier.

News to smile about for thousands of New Zealand's Pacific communities heading into Polyfest and Pasifika 2018 next month.

Either way, most people have vivid memories of their first serious relationship, Deakin University associate professor of psychology Gery Karantzas said.

"One thing that makes memories so vivid for us is the amount of emotion that is experienced during the creation of that memory," he told ABC Radio Melbourne's Ali Moore.

Declining attention span

If you answered yes, you’re not alone. The latest research shows our attention is wandering for 47 per cent of our waking hours and our concentration span dropped from 13 seconds in 2009 to just eight seconds in 2013.

This is one of the consequences of working in a fast-paced business environment where we face multiple demands at the same time. We respond by trying to solve them all at once by multi-tasking.

I spend most Saturday nights at home in yoga pants, rereading favorite novels or watching old movies, or playing Monopoly Junior with my seven-year-old. (If you think Monopoly is boring, then you haven't tried Monopoly Junior.)

This way of spending my Saturday nights makes me happy. If you went back and told my cooler 20-year-old self about the typical evening that awaits the future her, though, she would be pretty devastated that her life turns out to be so ... boring. That a Saturday night spent reading a book -- not even a new book -- qualifies as a great time.