This is my happy place

October 26, 2013

Maybe I’m a little tired of the pursuit of happiness.

Do we really need to pursue it? That’s what I want to know.

Antidepressants, SSRIs, therapy–blah-blah blah. Hardly anyone’s naturally happy.

Is happiness that elusive?happy_lucketts3_1024x1024

So here’s my happy place: home from the doctor, clean bill of health. Oh, except for elevated liver levels. “Fatty liver is bad,” my doctor tells me. “You can get cirrhosis and die. It’s rare, but it can happen. When you’re back from India I want you to have a liver ultrasound and oh, by the way, lose some weight.”

But it’s pretty damn good to have everything else in good shape. Apparently. Yes, my happy place is the day after my annual physical when I discover I have no obvious signs of a Mac-Daddy malady.

01-So many beautiful days in San Francisco with blue sky, cool air and sunshine. Living in the city is harder than living in the ‘burbs, more complicated. Parking is at a premium, grocery shopping alone is an ordeal and yes, it’s expensive. So, what luck to live 50 miles south of San Francisco and to have reason to drive up there at least weekly if not more often.

Yes, San Francisco. The Bay area. California. My happy place.

ThisIsMyHappyPlace500When you live with pets and people you love you are definitely in your happy place, and so it is with me.  Riley keeps me laughing every single day, when I’m not swooning over his cuteness. Little He’s sweet nature gives our household such a beautiful aura. And someone needs to tell me again how it is that after a painful divorce in 1981, my first husband returned, insistent on my sharing his life with him. His amazing life. He is an amazing guy. Yes, it’s my  happy place, alright.

This-is-My-Happy-Place-Sign

Wacky women friends, that’s what I have and I love it. Each one is so different from the others and they make a glorious bouquet. Who wouldn’t want to pick one or more of those gorgeous blooms to enjoy regularly?  Spending time with them always puts me in my happy place.

this my happy place

It’s true that I’ve been very lucky. It’s also true that I’ve had my share of heartache. I just don’t focus on it.

Every day that I draw breath is a happy place for me.  I don’t have to pursue happiness–I’m living there.

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6 comments on “This is my happy place
  1. Barbara says:

    Oh amen, amen and amen to this, Carol. Just yesterday I stood with eyes closed and arms spread wide trying to take in all that my life has been and is blessed with now. Sometimes I feel I have to open up physically to spiritually take it all in. I think of the lyrics to The Sound of Music song, “Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.” But no, not really, because my childhood was charmed and I was not an angel. So maybe I endured a really awful previous life to have earned this one. And some days, yes – it’s a matter of refocusing my attention – but this life IS a happy place. When we see it.

  2. Yes–when we see it. You’re right.

  3. Lovely. Listing out those things that make one happy is a great idea! Off to do mine.

  4. Side note: in my book’s chapter on the writing of the Declaration of Independence during the summer of 1776, I have a call-out box on what “… the pursuit of happiness” meant to people in the eighteenth century. Clue: it wasn’t Super Bowl tickets nor a full checking account.

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