Basel woman collects handwritten stories of happiness

Sabine Koitka has collected more than 70 handwritten stories of happy moments at her unusual reporting office in Basel, SRF reports. Visitors can leave their accounts in a mailbox at the historic house Zum Österreich in the city’s Spalenvorstadt.

Koitka has been gathering the stories for five years, inspired by journalist and happiness researcher Mark Riklin. The letters, notes and photographs describe everything from sleeping in on a day off and the smell of freshly baked Christmas cookies to a rescue in the mountains and a successful escape to Basel. “There are no typical happiness stories. Each one is unique,” she says.

Koitka usually does not know who sent the accounts. One letter that stayed with her came from a seriously ill woman who wrote that the pain-free minutes in her day were her greatest happiness.

The office also offers small notes with encouraging messages for passers-by to take away. They are often gone within days, Koitka says. She sees the office as a place where conversations about happiness can lead to thoughtful exchanges.

The project is intended as a counterweight to the stream of bad news. Koitka has chosen handwritten letters over digital messages, saying a real letter creates a different kind of connection. She hopes to publish the collected wishes in a book.

The office is in a building where Koitka also sells paints, pigments and artists’ supplies, including rare items from the estate of Reinach color engineer Theodor Bolsinger. “I am the Office of Positivity,” she says. “There are already enough places where people can complain.”