Tuesday, February 26, 2008


Yesterday I spent hours, hours, I tell you, writing up a little blog on things that make me happy. I did this because lately it seems like I've been awfully bitchy and mean and sad and well, we all need a little balance in our lives.

And then in the process of doing some editing I somehow glitched the whole thing away into nothingness and although there was a saved draft, due to my technological ineptness I couldn't retrieve it.

Looking back from the distance of a good night's sleep, I think it was for the best. It's hardly necessary to note that the smell of a baby's head makes me happy or that making soup brings me joy. We all know this by now.

But I think it was a good thing for me to do because quite frankly, I was shocked when I started listing them at how many pleasures I do have in my life. The reason I was shocked is that I'm hardly the sort of person who wakes up every morning with the thought, "Wow! Another day! Another opportunity for growth, fun, and the grand experience which is life!"

No. I wake up every day with a thought that goes more like, "Wow. Another day. Wonder how I'll drag my ass through it."

And believe me, I don't like waking up feeling like this six days out of seven and if I could change that part of my psyche, I would, but I think that our outlook on life is probably so set that we can no more change it than we can change our eye color. It's probably a whole gestalt made up of genetics, early childhood experience and plain old chemicals which of course includes hormones.

History of family depression, crappy childhood experiences, menopause. Add 'em up. Get despair.

But honestly, there ARE an amazing number of things that I get to experience on a daily basis that range from the incredibly prosaic (the soup thing for instance) to the near-holy (libraries) that not only make me happy but bring me actual joy and it did not hurt me one bit to list some of them, even if they never made it as far as the blog because even though a lot of things do really piss me off (did you see that article in the paper about the legislator who is "battling" for the Confederate license plate?), there's an awful lot of goodness in my life and despite my proclivity towards negativity, I need to lighten up and enjoy all this good stuff and pay more attention to it.

Now. Having said all of this, and knowing how much I love birds (yes, they made the list) , could we do something about that damn bird that sits outside my window every morning and proclaims, "You're sweet! You're sweet! You're sweet!"

Because unless he knows something I don't, he's full of shit.

I am not sweet. I am grouchy, mean in the mornings and all my joints ache.

But the library's open, and my computer's working so it's a good day. I need to fill in some ditches (long story) and that definitely doesn't make me happy but having a body strong enough to fill in ditches does, so I'm going to try and concentrate on that. And tomorrow I'll be grateful for Ibuprofen.

Go on. Enjoy what makes you happy. And tell us about it, if you like. Yeah, it's corny, but it's good for the soul.

The picture of the zinnia above was taken in the garden last summer by one of my daughters. So that's sort of a trifecta because zinnias, my children and my garden are definitely all on the list.
Quite possibly, you were too.

16 comments:

  1. How in the heck I got my temperament I'll never know. That being said, things that have made me happy just today are: eating my morning cup of ice after drinking all my diet mt. dew (though it probably didn't make my teeth happy); a picture Debbie sent me of my tent with short legs, since I forgot to take one; the idea of a turkey sandwich at 11 am; the upcoming springtime Tally parade; an invitation to join a friend or two at the Pub for a brew tonight before the yuppies pack the place; and you!

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  2. You're a happy guy because you learned to read at three and have a big head start on everyone else when it comes to reading ALL the books.
    That's my theory.
    I like your list of things that have made you happy so far today.
    This storm we're having is making me happy, although it forced me inside before I finished up the ditches. When I'm done with them, I will be VERY happy.

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  3. I wish I were there to help with the ditch project. Oh, I miss digging and getting dirty and feeling sooo exhausted physically instead of mentally. And Downtown guy is happy because he's had a good momma, isn't going through menopause, and yes, CAN READ, but mostly because of the Mt. Dew! ;) But basically, the study of the twins in the Minnesota Twins Studies shows that happiness or not is genetic so we curmudgeons outta just learn to be happy with our curmudgeonness. Just think how much it means when we ARE happy.

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  4. The books do help, I admit. It's funny - when I was a kid, I remember being really freaked out, shy, and stressed a lot of the time. Somewhere in my 20s, I shed a lot of that and simply came into a place of general good feeling. The worst may happen, but I suspect I can make the best of it.

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  5. That does it. I'm converting to Mountain Dew! :) You and Juancho both seem to have a gift that way--general self-confidence, well-earned.

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  6. To be completely honest, I think more credit should probably go to punk rock and pabst blue ribbon than the ol' dew.

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  7. Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. Especially the punk rock part, something I've been too quick to discount.

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  8. Why would you drink Mountain Dew when you can drink coffee? This is something I'll never understand.
    Nor will I understand punk rock, but that's another story.
    Ms. Lopo- I filled in those ditches and it was hard, sweaty, and dirty. Yeah! Made me feel all butch. And tired. And old.
    But good.

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  9. What makes me happy?

    Now there's a good question...I'll get back to you.

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  10. According to what I've read on Fat Lad, riding fast and getting lost might make you happy, Juancho. And how about black bean soup? Does that make the list?
    Hey- how was Salman? He's got a short story in this issue of the New Yorker. Maybe I'll finally read something by him.

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  11. I think shooting that bird with a BB gun would make me happy...but that's just me...

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  12. Tee-hee. Now seriously- how could you shoot a bird (and I have yet to ID this one) that says, "You're sweet!"? But it's a good visual image.

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  13. I am always amazed at how things I love can piss me off. Once I experience magic, I spend the rest of my time trying to duplicate it. Futile. If you do anything enough it will raise your expectations and it will take more to get the "Happy". The "Happy" only comes along more often when you don't expect it. I find it happens more when I am exausted. Being manic is awesome!
    w.b.

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  14. Salman Rushdie is no black bean soup, that's for sure.

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  15. Being manic IS awesome, which is why so many bipolar people don't take their meds.
    You're completely correct, though, HWB. Just because something is magic once (or two hundred times for that matter) doesn't mean it will be again.
    And mostly, yes, "happy" happens when we're not expecting it.

    So Juancho- was he at least lentil soup? Canned lentil soup?

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  16. Funny, i just slung up a trite post about "Things that don't suck" and boom here i am in your archives. And you betcha i'm back-reading. All 13 hunerd an 13 give-or-take a few now of em. Hope you don't mind me lurkin all up in your blog, as wrong as that sounds.

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