Today I am in conversation with Helen Schulman, an acclaimed novelist, screenwriter, short story writer and New York Times Bestselling author. We talk about the concept of "sympathetic happiness": Helen shares her impactful encounter with the Dalai Lama many years back. She stumbled upon him speaking giving a free audience publicly in Portland, and she listened to him for the first time. His topic was "sympathetic happiness" - the idea being that if you can join in the happiness of others, your own happiness will multiply. Helen internalised this learning in her practice as a professor, teaching writing at The New School in NYC. She says, that since then she has been not only happy for her students, but actually focussing on being happy through them.Helen talks about her new book "Fools for Love" and our conversation actually took place on the first day of her Sabbatical, which she will spend in Paris with her husband, working on historical fiction.