Thursday, April 25, 2013

Happiness

This week has been a little hectic with the semester coming to an end (already!) and my seemingly out of control emotions getting in the way of my happiness. On Tuesday night I found myself frantically cleaning my room and gutting out my closet instead of getting my school work done. Also, I caught myself occasionally letting out screams of rage for no particular reason. I guess if I am going to choose an avoidance mechanism, cleaning is the way to go, but don't let me lead you astray - school work should always come first.

Anyways, late last night on a study break, I found this poem. Sometimes tiny burst of inspiration, like this poem, find us at just the right moment if we take the time to notice them.


"Happiness is a kind of openness, we have learned.
So choose the risky road of power and vulnerability.
Be done with dull things.
Take your life back.


Free yourself from habits of anger and compliance—smoking self-destruction.
Eyes wide open to the world as it is, we grieve.
And in the midst of it all, we rejoice…
We have been told that liberty and happiness are mutually exclusive. 
This notion we reject. 

We can write our own scripts, write our own stories.
We can follow the threads of joy, too,
like sparks flying from the campfire, see where they land.
 We can create a liberation psychology.

So we open to love or work or art that feels expansive.
There is no “happily ever after.”
There is only meditation, action, change, friendship, idea, inspiration, creation.
We spin this light out of darkness."

bluebird, Ariel Gore



Yes, this week has been stressful, exhausting, and emotional, but that doesn't mean there isn't still time to notice all of the reasons I still have to be happy.

Progress.

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing Kelsi. I needed to hear that poem as well. <3

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  2. I have searched "what happiness is" in the past, because it seemed to me that what I was looking for was not happiness. It was more like "satisfaction". I now believe that happiness is based on gratitude. People feel happy when they feel grateful for what they have. Happiness is not "high" emotion. Happiness comes with peace in a quiet state of mind. Then, we can be always happy. We usually have many feelings at once. Stress is a part of life in a way, and that does not mean that we don't have happiness. We overlook it because stress and other distress feelings are emphasized in our mind, the disease thinking.... What helps me is to look at the reality as it is. Not all is bad... I had a bad day yesterday. I am really happy to read your new post =) xoxo

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    Replies
    1. You are absolutely right. We do feel happiness when we feel a sense of gratitude and I never really understood that until recently. "Peace in a quiet state of mind" as you said sounds heavenly. Let me know if you ever find a way to get there! ;) xo

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