“I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done for them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor – such is my idea of happiness.” -Leo Tolstoy
The older I get the more the concept of happiness being akin to the quote above makes sense to me. Right now I want a bigger house, a larger car, and a higher paying job. Why do I want these things though? Do I want to be better than someone else or show off what we can obtain. Absolutely not! We want these things mostly because we have a larger family now and they allow us to provide for our needs and, yes, some wants. I realize, I truly realize, that these things do not bring about happiness. I said to Sarah the other day that "money can be a contributing factor to one's happiness." The operative words in that sentence are "can be" and "contributing." We all say money isn't happiness and while that is true, money can help bring about happiness but happiness itself doesn't come from any tangible thing, is radiates from within the core of our beings and it's produced on demand. I think the important thing is to figure out what it is and how to foster it. For me, happiness comes primarily from truth and the relationships I have with those around me. Everything else-money, cars, toys, etc.-are appendages to life and that happiness but they could all disappear tomorrow and I can honestly say I'd be happy to the degree I could survive and support my family.
"There is pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea and the music in its roar;
I love not man the less, but Nature more."
— Lord Byron
I can't say I love nature more than man. I love my family and friends more than I love nature, but I don't even think it's a fair comparison because in my view everything emanates from the same source with the primary difference being that some "creations" (for lack of a better word and to avoid going into greater detail) are sentient and autonomous, such as human beings, while others do not, such as a tree. I believe a tree is conscious and is vitally important and is to be respected, but is obviously not the same as a human being. There's a line that some of the more extreme environmentalists cross which blurs their vision on this subject and, in my opinion, perverts their perspective to the point that they get things "twisted" and fear more for nature than for humankind. For me, watching my child learn or seeing the sun break through the clouds are both powerful spiritual experiences but inherently different.
"Rather than Love, than Money, than Fame, give me Truth."
— Henry David Thoreau
I would rather be a self-actualized poet living on a commune knowing full well the meaning of my existence, or a father of two married to a wonderful woman making relatively little teaching English to disenfranchised youth, than a powerful investment banker who drowns his consciousness in whiskey every weekend to forget about the pointless of life any day and I'd choose the former over the latter time and time and time again. Be true to thyself, or "to thine own self be true" (Shakespeare) or, going back even further, "Know thyself" (Socrates). He who does not know himself (or herself) is truly destitute.
"It should not be denied... that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations, with absolute freedom, and the road has always led West."
— Wallace Stegner
I'm glad I live in the West. We live at the "end or edge of the world."
"If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, the possibility of life is destroyed."
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
I still remember changing my major to English and this quote sums up why I did so. Reason is powerful and is necessary to live a productive, happy life, and it definitely has its place in religion and spirituality, even at its core, but there is something to be said for the "wild" and unnameable aspects of life. For me the mysteries keep me alive and each time one is uncovered, there is another one to pursue. I think without this aspect to life that I couldn't go on; I'd be overcome by sheer boredom!
"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."
— Christopher McCandless
If your unhappy with your job, your spiritual or physical state of being, emotional state, etc. then get up, shake things up! It makes me sad, and sometimes furious, when I see people who know why they are not happy and are not willing to move, to act, to get up and seek something, even when they don't know exactly what it is. Perhaps when Jesus talked about being like little children he meant, amongst other things, to pursue the world in a manner that demonstrates our belief, or faith, that with a sense or spirit of curiosity and hope there is always a cure for whatever ails us!
"...the sea's only gifts are harsh blows and, occasionally, the chance to feel strong. Now, I don't know much about the sea, but I do know that that's the way it is here. And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once, to find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing blind, deaf stone alone, with nothing to help you but your own hands and your own head..."
— Bear Meat by Primo Levi
My note: Primo Levi was an Italian holocaust survivor and I studied him while at BYU. I think we often forget just how fragile we are and, at the same time, how much potential we have in our bodies, in our hands and in our heads. Modern society does this to us because we become so trusting and reliant on our technology and modern comforts. This is why I plan on going camping more when Carter's a bit older. Right now I don't feel like saying, "OK honey, I'm leaving to do some real camping, you know, the kind without an RV. Have fun with the kids!" Once he's a bit older though, it'll be great for us to spend more time bonding and he'll be big and strong enough to hike.
Death's a fierce meadowlark: but to die having made
Something more equal to the centuries
Than muscle and bone, is mostly to shed weakness
— From "Wise Men in Their Bad Hours" by poet Robinson Jeffers (As quoted by Louis L'Amour in his memoir, Education of A Wandering Man)
I'm still thinking about this one, but I do know I like it!
The older I get the more the concept of happiness being akin to the quote above makes sense to me. Right now I want a bigger house, a larger car, and a higher paying job. Why do I want these things though? Do I want to be better than someone else or show off what we can obtain. Absolutely not! We want these things mostly because we have a larger family now and they allow us to provide for our needs and, yes, some wants. I realize, I truly realize, that these things do not bring about happiness. I said to Sarah the other day that "money can be a contributing factor to one's happiness." The operative words in that sentence are "can be" and "contributing." We all say money isn't happiness and while that is true, money can help bring about happiness but happiness itself doesn't come from any tangible thing, is radiates from within the core of our beings and it's produced on demand. I think the important thing is to figure out what it is and how to foster it. For me, happiness comes primarily from truth and the relationships I have with those around me. Everything else-money, cars, toys, etc.-are appendages to life and that happiness but they could all disappear tomorrow and I can honestly say I'd be happy to the degree I could survive and support my family.
"There is pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea and the music in its roar;
I love not man the less, but Nature more."
— Lord Byron
I can't say I love nature more than man. I love my family and friends more than I love nature, but I don't even think it's a fair comparison because in my view everything emanates from the same source with the primary difference being that some "creations" (for lack of a better word and to avoid going into greater detail) are sentient and autonomous, such as human beings, while others do not, such as a tree. I believe a tree is conscious and is vitally important and is to be respected, but is obviously not the same as a human being. There's a line that some of the more extreme environmentalists cross which blurs their vision on this subject and, in my opinion, perverts their perspective to the point that they get things "twisted" and fear more for nature than for humankind. For me, watching my child learn or seeing the sun break through the clouds are both powerful spiritual experiences but inherently different.
"Rather than Love, than Money, than Fame, give me Truth."
— Henry David Thoreau
I would rather be a self-actualized poet living on a commune knowing full well the meaning of my existence, or a father of two married to a wonderful woman making relatively little teaching English to disenfranchised youth, than a powerful investment banker who drowns his consciousness in whiskey every weekend to forget about the pointless of life any day and I'd choose the former over the latter time and time and time again. Be true to thyself, or "to thine own self be true" (Shakespeare) or, going back even further, "Know thyself" (Socrates). He who does not know himself (or herself) is truly destitute.
"It should not be denied... that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations, with absolute freedom, and the road has always led West."
— Wallace Stegner
I'm glad I live in the West. We live at the "end or edge of the world."
"If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, the possibility of life is destroyed."
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
I still remember changing my major to English and this quote sums up why I did so. Reason is powerful and is necessary to live a productive, happy life, and it definitely has its place in religion and spirituality, even at its core, but there is something to be said for the "wild" and unnameable aspects of life. For me the mysteries keep me alive and each time one is uncovered, there is another one to pursue. I think without this aspect to life that I couldn't go on; I'd be overcome by sheer boredom!
"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."
— Christopher McCandless
If your unhappy with your job, your spiritual or physical state of being, emotional state, etc. then get up, shake things up! It makes me sad, and sometimes furious, when I see people who know why they are not happy and are not willing to move, to act, to get up and seek something, even when they don't know exactly what it is. Perhaps when Jesus talked about being like little children he meant, amongst other things, to pursue the world in a manner that demonstrates our belief, or faith, that with a sense or spirit of curiosity and hope there is always a cure for whatever ails us!
"...the sea's only gifts are harsh blows and, occasionally, the chance to feel strong. Now, I don't know much about the sea, but I do know that that's the way it is here. And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once, to find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing blind, deaf stone alone, with nothing to help you but your own hands and your own head..."
— Bear Meat by Primo Levi
My note: Primo Levi was an Italian holocaust survivor and I studied him while at BYU. I think we often forget just how fragile we are and, at the same time, how much potential we have in our bodies, in our hands and in our heads. Modern society does this to us because we become so trusting and reliant on our technology and modern comforts. This is why I plan on going camping more when Carter's a bit older. Right now I don't feel like saying, "OK honey, I'm leaving to do some real camping, you know, the kind without an RV. Have fun with the kids!" Once he's a bit older though, it'll be great for us to spend more time bonding and he'll be big and strong enough to hike.
Death's a fierce meadowlark: but to die having made
Something more equal to the centuries
Than muscle and bone, is mostly to shed weakness
— From "Wise Men in Their Bad Hours" by poet Robinson Jeffers (As quoted by Louis L'Amour in his memoir, Education of A Wandering Man)
I'm still thinking about this one, but I do know I like it!
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