Three Ways Living Like Gomez Addams Will Make You Happier

Photo credit: Reddit.com

By Saffina Jinnah

“They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious, and spooky, they’re all together ooky, the Addams family. Dunna, na, na na... snap, snap.”

If you have ever watched the Addam’s Family, you know just how kooky Gomez Addams is.

What does it mean to be kooky you might ask?

When I watch the Addam’s Family, some see spooky but I see Gomez as kind, honest, and generous. He lives a life he loves, something we all strive for. How does he do this? He is happy with his wife, his children, Lurch, and Thing. For the most part, as far as I can tell, he is even on good terms with his “normy neighbors.”

How can you live like Gomez to be happier in the workplace and in life?

Lean into love

Gomez Addams loves and is loved. He expresses his joy regularly. He is passionate. About everything. Something we are often ridiculed for today. People are mocked for sharing their outfits, their food, their art, on social media unfiltered without abandon. Today, everything must have purpose and meaning. Are there people who are genuinely happy? Grateful? How do they have the time?

We have built a culture where being busy is a status symbol. The busier you are, the better. You are more important, more in-demand, and more valuable. This rings even more true in the workplace. When workplaces perpetuate this type of culture, this often leads to low morale and poor retention. Praising the busy brag is an outdated model. According to a study by ADP Canada and Maru Public Opinion, the pandemic led many Canadians to reevaluate their work incentives, and work-life balance has risen to the top.

So how do we find balance between our professional and personal lives and create time for the things we love? Why can’t we be like Gomez and share the things we like unabashedly? Like Gomez, be your authentic self. Bring your whole self to the workplace. Leadership must be willing to disrupt the norm and encourage leaning into love.

Find joy outside of work

If you find balance, how do you fill your time? Is it with things you love? Or is it worrying about work? Is it worrying about things beyond your control? Gomez has hobbies. And these too, he engages with passionately. He is often found fencing, dancing, playing chess, and smoking the occasional cigar. However, it seems perhaps one of his most treasured past times is playing with model trains. He does this with reckless abandon and with the joy of a child. Finding this type of joy brings reduces stress and will benefit you personally and professionally.

Be comfortable in your own skin

Gomez is comfortable in his own skin and perhaps even liberated by his masculinity. He is free from social expectations and pressure. Men of his era were work obsessed, career driven, distant, and emotionally unavailable. This simply does not suit Gomez Addams. He makes time. Takes time. And shares without shame.

He is a devoted husband who adores his wife and is not embarrassed to share or show how he feels. He is constantly complimenting her and expressing his affection whether that is with absurd kisses up her arm or sly romantic compliments, he never holds back.

Similarly, he supports his children as an active and involved parent. When Pugsly ‘falls into the wrong crowd’ and joins the Boy Scouts, Gomez does not scold him or force him to give it up. Rather, they discuss his new interests and seek professional help. Likewise, with Wednesday, many a time he has snuggled and cuddled her in consolation from various upsets at school when she is bullied.

Gomez once again proves that being open and vulnerable leads to better relationships as seen with his wife and children. This applies to the workplace as well. Vulnerability normalizes emotions in the workplace. When leadership shares authentic emotions, they are more relatable to their employees. This creates trust, connections, and meaningful relationships, leading to teams with more synergy and better performance.

Gomez’s immense openness to share what makes him happy brings a source of light to a dark family. The Addam’s Family is firm in their conviction, but gentle in their demeanor. They enjoy everything that regular people hate, passionately. It seems if you can do this, if you can dare to do the things you love and share the things you love, you might be closer to living a life you love. How do we bring this kind of passion to our life? And to our work? Something that compromises up to 40 hours of our week. Start with Gomez Addams.

Saffina Jinnah is a brown girl living in Vancouver, BC. A first generation Canadian, her parents are from Uganda. In her day-to-day life she works in non-profit funding, is an active volunteer, and loves to read in coffee shops sipping something over-sweetened and over-caffeinated. You can read more of her writing at Confessions of a Brown Girl.