I have something very special today. A friend of mine sent me her thoughts about yesterday's ramble. She has agreed to let me share it here.

Great stuff, non? She touches on a lot of the themes that are nearest and dearest to my heart.

AG, I haven't figured out the magic recipe for my happiness yet but I'm definitely looking. I suspect that when I find it it will feature my friends... that's all I've got so far. As far as what will make me happy in the future? Who knows? I'm sure I'll figure it out, though. It's one of those things. I'm definitely enjoying to the search. How do I secure that future happiness? I think I've got that figured out, it's almost a mantra: some things are more important than others. I figure as long as I don't let myself lose sight of what's really important or lose touch with myself I'll be OK.

Here's the thing I'm slowly learning that she seems to have figured out already... It's not what you are doing it's how you are doing it and whether or not it's making you happy. It's easy in this day and age to let yourself be defined by your job or the things that own you and lose sight of more important things.

It's ironic to me that it seems to be so much harder to do the things that make you happy than it is to do the things society expects of you. I will understand if you take issue with this statement, although I would love to know why. Let me ask you a question first, though. If this is not true why don't people seem to be more blissfully happy as they don their skirts or ties and hop in the volvo? Are you happy?

I spend too much time at work. Sadly, this is not necessarily because I enjoy it. There are a lot of reasons: obligation (imagined and real), habit, and sometimes I just plain can't figure out what else to do and I don't want to go home. (That's an embarrassing thing to type.) I am slowly letting work take over my life (that perhaps should be past tense) because it is EASIER than calling it off at a reasonable hour and figuring out something to do that would make me happy. I may be alone in this but the more closely I observe my friends and acquaintances the less I believe that.

I begin to wonder if neglect of our collective mental health isn't going to be the defining theme of this era. People are stressed-out, burnt-out, road-raged, and increasingly distant. I have an idea. Switch that fucking cel-phone, pager, or palm-pilot off and go sit in the park for a few minutes, or, better yet, a few hours. Don't think about work, the kids' soccer practice, or all those pieces of e-crap you're missing. Instead, enjoy the feeling of the sunlight or the wind. Enjoy being human for a bit. I promise that AIM message will wait.

I'm sure there are some people that get a lot of happiness from their occupations. I salute you. For those of us that don't I would like to say one thing: it's not that big a deal. I mean, you and I work to pay the bills... what we do outside of that is A LOT MORE IMPORTANT. I'm really beginning to buy that whole "life is made up of moments" thing. I'm going to enjoy mine, frankly.

A question I ask myself a lot is: Are you alive? Try it. It's an interesting question. I invite you to share your answers with me, if you like.

Some stuff

On a lighter note: check out a song called "Get a Move On" by Mr. Scruff. I don't think you'll regret it. It's a great tune. Also you might poke around the web for Bruce Sterling's viridian movement. Very interesting stuff, if somewhat alarmist, imo. I'm glad someone's keeping an eye on these types of issues.

I don't know how people who write web journals keep from feeling horribly self-concious. Ugh.

A big thank you to AG for taking the time to think about it and respond. *hugs* You rule! I owe ya one :)

"Heads of state who ride and wrangle, who look at your face from more than one angle, will cut you from their bloated budgets like sharpened knives through chicken mcnuggets..."

As always, if this sparks you or you want to share something with me, please do so.

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