Things that don't bring happiness:

Fancy toys
Stunning good looks

Two stories here:

Story one, fancy toys, takes place back in Provo, Utah. Lissie and I were playing in the front yard. She was collecting sticks and these nifty seeds that dropped from the tree bordering the sidewalk and the street.  Down the sidewalk rolls a hefty kid and what appeared to be his little brother in a two seater toy car.  It was the shiz.  Nice plastic parts, and it even moved at the pace of one of those motorized chairs you see not-so-healthy people sitting in sometimes. With such a magnificent ride, you'd think those kids would be grinning ear to ear, right? Umm, not exactly.  In fact they looked, I kid you not, totally miserable.

Story two, stunning good looks, took place today on the 1 train between the Financial District and Times Square.  On walks a woman who obviously has a career in modeling.  This woman truly was in possession of stunning good looks. That is to say, she was effing gorgeous. I wish I could have taken a picture so as to send readers on a hunt to find what mag she poses for.   But did she and her metro boyfriend and their perfectly groomed Boston Terrier hanging in his doggy sling look exceptionally happy? Hrm, no. Not really.

I know both stories are anecdotal.  Some of you may be thinking I may have missed some longitudinal details, or that objectively, what does happiness look like anyway? I will say in response to the latter that I know happiness when I see it.  And some of the happiest people I've known in my life didn't have exceptionally fancy toys or stunning good looks. I'd like to be more like those people. 

What happy people do you know that don't  fit the marketer's image of happiness? I bet you know some. Tell me why you think they're so happy, if you please.Okay, so maybe these (<) questions are a little too cute. Fine. Answer your own best question about happiness. 

joie de vivre

Since I became a mom roughly three and a half years ago, I've found I'm becoming more interested in, and much better at, celebrating. Which seems ironic, right? But I'm realizing my interests in celebrating, mindfulness, and minimalism -seemingly separate things- all dovetail beautifully into, simply,  joie de vivre.  Because those three things, I think, are ways children naturally are inclined to experience life until they become jaded; sometimes much too soon.

I think in large part my attention to being "plugged in" with my surroundings (in my "Depleted" post, I write that this is possibly the biggest factor in my celebrating style) is due to seeing things through my daughter's eyes.  A ride on the subway isn't a mere ride on the subway.  It is full of sounds, smells, heat (oh, the heat!), and so so so many people to meet.  Lissie has the talent of melting just about everyone's chilly disposition when she inevitably asks "What's your name?" and, without waiting for a reply, "My name's Lissie."  Derrick and I were remarking today about how our daughter seems to bring out the best in everyone we've met here so far. Especially that elderly black woman Lissie insisted on holding hands with up the subway steps. They'd met about, oh, two minutes before, and the woman gently and happily obliged. 

Lissie has brought out the best in me, too.  Though I was formerly resigned to jadedness, she's been training me in the art of creating and appreciating new experiences.  She's taught me to savor them too.  Because by plugging into wherever I am, I am creating something beautiful and rich; I am creating the person she will become, by virtue of the things she is experiencing and will continue to experience, wherever we may be.

 (Eating Chinese food in China Town, Lissie style)

 

(Watching the squirrels in Central Park)

 

 

serendipitous

I found this quote on this blog:

{"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."

Guillaume Apollinaire}

just after listening to this podcast in which the Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says that sometimes we should take a break from pursuing happiness, and just let happiness catch up with us. Beautiful, no?

By the way, I really recommend not just this individual podcast, but all the podcasts associated with this site. They are among my recent favorites.

Today I discovered that happiness is:

waking up early to prepare for, and succeed at, a task that's important to me.

and then taking a much-deserved early evening.

celebrating (as in hooting and hollering) Lissie going pee in her potty.

listening to the hum of the dishwasher.

thinking about a scripture in a way I never have before (listen to Sack's take on Jacob's wrestle with the angel and you'll know what I mean).

Hmm, what if I let happiness catch up with me more often?