Skip to main content

What Makes You Happy?

I would not say I'm happy, but I at least know what makes me happy. I often wonder if the problem with people today, their misery, their anger, even hate, stems from an inability to recognize what brings them joy.

Watch a child play and you realize it's the single item, the concentration, the connection to whatever the task is, that brings them joy. Add a television, background music or even a parent's interruption and they quickly lose interest, move on to the next thing and grow increasingly agitated, even upset. So why do we as adults, lose that ability? Why do we believe that stimulation, multiple stimulation will bring us joy, when we don't even understand what it is we want?

I have two landlords. They have a beautiful home, a large deck, a enormous backyard that more or less faces the north west and brings about some magical sunsets. Not a single time have they sat outside for the few minutes where nature brings on colors and images, no fireworks display could ever come close to. Not once have they gone out early, captured the shadows disappearing, accentuated by the chirping of birds and the feel of the warm morning sun on their backs. This brings them no joy? I can't understand how anyone can't be moved by these moments. A dear friend reminds me, almost daily, "You can't make people think as you do." They have now cluttered this space with a hot tub, new furniture awnings, gazebos, grills, canopies, gazebos and chairs, fire pits and other nonsense. All to distract ones attention and fulfill something nature doesn't do for them. It doesn't make me happy, but it's not my choice.

Yesterday I read Facebook, Twitter and even some friend's blogs and I know, as I do myself, that we spend so much time wrapped up in what we do not like, that when it comes time for happiness, we simply choose what doesn't make us stressed, unhappy or even angry. Rarely, do we do what makes us happy. I do not mean content. I mean happy. I see people putting their pets in cages and I wander for an hour searching for my cat. I feel a moment of stress, but then the sun starts to set. The bird's tune changes and there is fire in the sky. As the colors fade and the night sky appears, I see the bushes rustle and the orange image appears, running frantically towards me and then past. A quick jump and then he wonder, "Why am I not being fed?" We close the door, he eats, curls up next to me and sleeps. Happy. Both of us.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

11 Rules of Life - Bill Gates?

I read this on Facebook this morning.  A friend had posted it and said that every child should have to receive this. I of course read it and started to think.  I immediately wondered who really wrote this, as I rarely see things like this attributed to the proper person.  I immediately found it was written by Conservative Charles J. Sykes when he wrote a book about how America is dumbing down our youth.  I read it twice and started to wonder how true it was.  Below is a link to the actual picture I saw. So let's look at each of the rules and analyze them. Rule 1: Life is not fair — get used to it! - Life is not fair in that we are not all afforded the same opportunities based on race, creed, color, socio-economic background, but in general, those who are afforded the same opportunities to succeed are very often rewarded for their individual efforts.  Sure there may be underlying circumstances, but hard work is proven to pay more often than not and those who strive for succ

White Privilege

This was a post I wrote on Facebook after surprisingly not seeing any moaning about the Documentary by Jose Antonio Vargas, titled White People Dayyum! I just scrolled my timeline and not a single white person got their feelings hurt by White People. I unfortunately haven't seen it, but the number of fake accounts that popped up on twitter, tells me it was a damn good show. Here's the thing. If someone of color aka non-white says "White Privilege," are you offended? If you said yes, then you are exhibiting white privilege. It has nothing to do with how hard you work or study, how you stayed out of trouble, because here's the thing, that is entirely the point. Somewhere out there, there are 100 Black, Spanish, Native American, Arab, Asian, who worked and studied as hard as you and never got in trouble, but they don't have what you "earned" or achieved. Stop looking at the one person you know who isn't white that achieved as your benchmark. Loo

Quickie Review - Finding Vivian Maier

While I thoroughly enjoyed the film, especially the first 15-20 minutes, I was a little bothered by the way the film played out. The interviews with the clearly disturbed brother, sister and the mother, who obviously, was in for a cut, didn't need to be in the film. Then the woman who suggested abuse, yet seemed to have her life defined by Maier, as she tried to muster every ounce of emotion and fake guilt. Her friend, more than happy to be party of the charade. People who talk about abuse for the first time, usually don't do so on camera. The fact these scenes were so prominent, shows that they felt wronged that they were not rewarded. Maloof on the other hand, seems to disappear from the documentary during this part, almost hiding away from the fact, he went from complete praise, to even making money off of her, to destroying her personal legacy. He almost mentions the family of boys taking care of her rent, as an afterthought. Her burial spot, never shown, yet a video of her