Happiness Reconfigured

Once upon a time, not so long ago

happiness was a product of something else

—to be free of pain, to be warm and fed,

then it became a by-product of profit,

six figures to nine figures, the numerology

of ego and greed, the politics dividing us into

a sixty-forty handicap where a minority

of the certain out-vote the majority

who suspect that low taxes and the economy

have written us, happy or not, out of the future,

who refuse to die in a car crash or overdose,

who question the mathematics of chaos.

Have we become homeless puritans again?

Casting our bodies on the ocean in search

of a new world and finding instead

an old one that was here long before us?

How radical would it be to find happiness

in thoughts moving like fingers scaling

an imaginary piano, or a feeling,

a brief sensory perception of hope?

Suppose these small things moved us away

from the dark resources underground

to the centrifugal forces of our mind

terminally wondering what we can do?

Not as an exclamation of despair or apathy

but a quest, an inquiry into nature, a timeless

question on waking each morning—where did

happiness begin? The big bang?

(published in Infinite Power, Ekstasis 2016)

Kissing the Earth

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”
 
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Create the story to resonate with deep needs and desires

This is number three of the five actions: 

Once upon a time there was an old woman.  She had a home, a family, good friends, considerate neighbours, clean air and water. She had nutritious food. 

There were trees, birds, insects and small animals around her. 

She was well and happy most of the time, but when she wasn't she could see a doctor. If she felt threatened or insecure there were police officers and lawyers. 

To stimulate her interests there were art groups, there was theatre and there was music, shared interest groups for conversation.

As wonderful as all this was, it wasn't enough.  She wanted more. She wanted conversations on how to deal with emergencies, how to protect the shores and mountains from pollution, how to address climate change. She wanted to learn how to be an effective socially responsible citizen. She wanted to defend nature against greed and careless abuse.

She wanted to love and be loved. She wanted truth and beauty. And she wanted to do whatever she could to support all sentient beings to have what they need to live a long and healthy life.

She lived once she was born and died when her life was over.

Social Justice Made Easy

Do you wince, feel queasy if you see someone getting hurt, or worse, beaten up? Not in TV programs or movies but in real life.

Do you feel for another being if they are publicly shamed and you can see the pain their eyes?

Do you get angry when you hear  a loved one retell an incident that caused them suffering because of someone else?

Are you filled with rage after listening to endless headlines about accidents, wars, flood and fires, with thousand to millions dying because of the ambitions of a few?

If you answered yes to more than one of these - remember this is empathy. This is a part of your human nature that implodes in your mind and heart.

You were born with compassion. It is your birthright and the reason you have lived long enough to read this - because those who cared for you mostly had compassion and empathy, and because those who cared for you were cared for by others.

Social justice is a complex and complicated subject, and unlike car mechanics, changes as we become more aware.  Also it is not easy to get other people to agree on all its parts. There are different reasons why we can't agree on everything, but one thing I believe is, in societies that treat some members like gods and others like trash we all suffer.

Unless we are psychopathic narcissists, our relationship to neighbours, leaders, and relatives, is a primary factor in our happiness. We need to live among healthy happy people most of the time in order to be happy ourselves.

So when sponsored sources claim that the market is the universal measure of success and there is no such thing as society, it is a lie and it will make you miserable - unless you're a narcissist of course.

And when slogans say over and over again, that you have a duty to yourself to win, to rise to the top, to be the best looking most sought after woman or man in the world, and you barely notice the refrain because you have heard it ever since you were a toddler - please ask yourself who benefits?

So to get back to the task of creating a world that allows you to be happy, a world you want your children to live in, think about all the things you have done in your life that made you or someone else happy. That's social justice in the making and you don't have to be a sociologist to do it.

However a world built on social justice will take the majority of our species to understand its value and work towards that, and not get side-tracked by money and status.

What Does Money Mean To You?

What do you think of when you have money? Is it food or fun or security? Is it something that belongs to someone else which keeps you from doing what you want to do? Is it something you need? Is it what keeps you outside of community? Is it power?  Does it reward you with love?

What is the minimum you need for life to be worth living?