Everyone wants to be happy. Many, however, wrongly believe that happiness comes from having enough money, fame, personal comfort, worldly success, or even dumb luck. Happiness just seems to be so elusive and arbitrary -- something all too often just out of reach.

Joan Chittister sees happiness differently. To her it is not a by-product of wealth or success but, rather, a personal quality to be learned, mastered, and fearlessly wielded. Happiness, she says, "is an organ of the soul that is meant to be nourished." In these pages Chittister develops “an archeology of happiness” as she conducts a happiness “dig” through sociology, biology, neurology, psychology, philosophy, history, and world religions. Sifting through the wisdom of the ages, Chittister offers inspiring insights that will help seekers everywhere learn to cultivate true and lasting happiness within themselves.