psychologist says "happiness can be downright depressing"...

[Darren Dirt]

...if it's not done right

http://www.newint.org/columns/essays/2006/07/01/happiness-conspiracy/

Some Deep Thoughts in this article.

Health professionals face new epidemics of 'hurry sickness', 'toxic success syndrome', the 'frantic family', the 'over-commercialized child' and 'pleonexia' or out-of-control greed. Too much is no longer enough. Many are stretching themselves so far that they have difficulty feeling anything at all. At its heart the happiness boom is a metaphor for the modern struggle for meaning.

...we're the least happy society in history if we measure happiness in terms of mental health, personal growth, or general sense of aliveness.

The head of a US aid agency in Kenya commented recently that volunteers are predictably dumbstruck and confused by the zest and jubilance of the Africans. It's become a clich? for them to say: 'The people are so poor, they have nothing -- and yet they have so much joy and seem so happy.'

...There is an exquisite line by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche which touches on one of the keys to happiness: the need to appreciate 'the least, the softest, lightest, a lizard's rustling, a breath, a moment'. Paradoxically, happiness is closer when we kneel than when we soar. Our own nothingness can be a great source of joy.

[Mr. Analog]

If therapy is a form of addiction, and the pusher man is saying Happy is the new Sad, is this some kind of "New Coke" type thing?

[Thorin]

To sum it all up: want what you have, don't have what you want.  I forget where I first read that, but it makes sense when you think about it.

[Mr. Analog]

I think the real trick is to want something that's difficult or impossible to actually get. So, for example I like drawing. I want to get better, a lot better, so I keep plugging away at it (probably forever at the rate I'm going...).

[Darren Dirt]

To sum it all up: want what you have, don't have what you want.  I forget where I first read that, but it makes sense when you think about it.

lol, what you said just reminded me of this classic oldie...

Know what you say
Say what you know
Go where you live
Live where you go
Don't take advice
Take a chance
Roll the dice
Learn to dance

...

Rabbit foot
Four leaf clover
Lady luck move over
We can't lose, we can only win
Let me hear you say it again
Know what you do
Do what you know
Go where you live
Live where you go
Don't take advice
Take a chance
Roll the dice
Learn to dance

We are the roughest
We are the toughest
We are the cool breeze
We make a mess
We are the best
The ninety-ninth degree
It's you and me, kid
We got the natural edge

of course, you might have been channeling this song

[Mr. Analog]

Let me tell you about Texas Radio and the Big Beat...

[Adams]

Thats what I like to hear... a good doors reference. Now let me dig up my Dad's record and hope its not too scratched to rip it to mp3.

[Mr. Analog]

Thats what I like to hear... a good doors reference. Now let me dig up my Dad's record and hope its not too scratched to rip it to mp3.

Sweet, I would love to dub an LP of L.A. Woman to cassette for backup purposes for you.

[Adams]

I figured as much. I think I will have to get some software to clean up the LP, I am sure they do not have this one on CD... its Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine. I am looking for a CD but i have never found one yet. Let me work on my dad to get it from him.

[Darren Dirt]

To sum it all up: want what you have, don't have what you want.  I forget where I first read that, but it makes sense when you think about it.

it's 5 years past this thread, but I'm still on a similar kick, and T-man is saying the same kind of stuff in response. huh.


But at least this thread is semi-evidence that I'm not just secretly/subconsciously seeking out happiness right now due to un-acknowledged unhappiness right now.

Plus, being less-than-joyfully-happy means I'm scientifically-proven less likely to be all Scrooge-y.
http://www.cracked.com/article_20132_6-things-that-secretly-make-you-act-like-jerk_p2.html
"when we're happy, we really don't care about anything else. Our views are skewed, and subconsciously, all we want is to keep extending the feeling of joy, so we do whatever we can to keep ourselves happy, even if it means ignoring others." 


The irony in my posting this now = pretty damn happy lately. In fact, dare I say it, BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER.
Even let my daughter get a dog. And I like the dog. And I've always been a 100%-cat-0%-dog person. huh.

[Mr. Analog]

The fact that this is coming up at all, especially after so long, has me raising my eyebrow a bit like Spock. I know I put you on the spot before but it's only because I felt like there was something unsaid (maybe even subconsciously) by the frequency and tone of your posts as I interpreted them :-/

Call me crazy but I got this feeling like you weren't enjoying your job, feeling like you'd fallen behind somehow and stuck doing crap you don't like with no "out" because of perceived rusty skills?? Again, maybe I'm projecting on to you but I know when something is bothering me I can get overly critical of what I'm doing (or rather, what I'm NOT doing). That said, I think it's really good to take a look at what's going on in life and asking yourself the big questions like "am I happy", just don't get myopia while doing it. If you look too closely at anything long enough you'll find flaws whether they exist or not.

ANYWAY!! Glad to hear Christmas was enjoyable, that's so important! I know I had a good, quiet break.

Ooh, what breed did you get?

[Darren Dirt]

Ooh, what breed did you get?

Ruby is a labrador retriever + pointer cross, she is all spotty so she looks like maybe there's some Dalmatian in there. And my youngest daughter is amazing how quickly she got attached to her and is taking seriously being her owner. Plus I'm not a "dog person" but I think Ruby is a really fun and awfully sweet dog... Maybe she's part cat too, she's damn cuddly and can be kinda lazy too.

[Mr. Analog]

She sounds nice! With that pedigree I bet she loves playing catch hah

[Darren Dirt]

She sounds nice! With that pedigree I bet she loves playing catch hah

We found out yesterday that she loves BURROWING under the snow. Yes, *under* the snow -- like some kind of mixture between a gopheer and a shark, you only see a fast-moving mound of snow with her tail sticking up at the end, then she jumps out like some kind of dolphin, it was a neat surprise. She's 3 and has some basic commands, doesn't technically "play catch" though -- we don't know her whole history (Human Society adoption right).

[Mr. Analog]

Haha sounds fun!

Our dog used to run and jump into snow drifts, good times...