There are the moments of happiness that are coated in
accomplishment and you are happy because you created something for
yourself—you’ve manifested a particular reality by setting goals and intentions
and you’ve succeeded! For example, the happiness that will be found all over my
face next Saturday as I walk across the stage, receiving a piece of paper that
recognizes four years of my precious time spent studying and working. My
intention to hold my own Bachelor’s degree in my hand is becoming a reality and
the happiness of completing this endeavor is satisfying to say the least. Yet
this is a fleeting happiness, it will sustain me for a solid month (Christmas
& family help with this sustainment) and then I will need to create new
goals and intentions in order to satiate my growing mind. I will always be
proud of myself for achieving this feat, but the happiness that courses through
my body because is temporary and will fade. From my personal experience, the
happiness that remains at a finger’s reach, that has the power to permeate all
my moments throughout my days is the happiness I find when I remember. When I
remember that my brain is composed of more neural connections than stars in the
sky, when I remember that there are stars in the sky, shining at us from
millions of years away, and that the same organic matter that beautiful
mountains, peaceful rivers, and mighty Baobab trees are composed of is the same
matter that I am composed of. When I remember that we were all born on this
Planet, which happens to be a breathtaking paradise that nourishes us and
provides everything we could possibly need to thrive here. When I remember that
we have the ability to love unconditionally, or that my friends know how to
make me laugh. When I remember that a burning star full of fire is what wakes
me up every morning, and that every night there will be a luminous mirror in the
sky, moving the waves of the ocean. I remember that this life is full of wonder and negative & positive emotions/events are just part of it. It is what it is. It is an honor to be a part
of the human experience.
Nature is the source of my soul. It seems negligent to put nature under the
umbrella of “tool” but I simply mean that nature is where I first saw myself, where I first learned to remember who I am and what it means that I’m a human soul
on this Earth. I realize that I am nature as much as I observe nature. If we listen, we can understand nature as well. For example, climate change is a response
by Nature that we as humans have chosen to deem political but indeed is a simple
message by Nature. Earth is a
living, breathing consciousness and exists whether humans exist or not. She
will continue to do her thing, it is up to us whether or not we get to frolic
on her mountains and shores or not. Nature is comforting presence, you remember you are part of something huge and magnificent. When I get swept up in the worries that is daily life like grades, and
deadlines, rent, politics, and social media, nature is always there to run
through my lungs and remind me that it’s all good. We all get to wake up to the sun. The sun is
going to explode one day but it’s okay, right now it’s providing nourishment to
millions of plants and warmth to billions of creatures. It’s okay to have a day of downpour rain and it’s
okay to feel cloudy sometimes. All emotions are an experience. Nature reminds me that although my dreams and plans are intense and extensive and it feels
like we (humans) run the world, we are small in the grand scheme of things & are
only but a minute in the timeline of the universe. These reminders
bring me happiness throughout my life. Lsd is beginning to receive a name for itself in the mental health field and for good reason too: lsd can be used as a tool to remind, if you will, what the essence of the human experience is. It breaks down the
constructs you’ve been conditioned into over the years. These constructs
are not necessarily bad, in fact they help us function in every-day life, which
is why you don’t see a lot of people living their ordinary days on lsd. But we do live in a society with constructs on how to act in public, inhibits certain impulses and reactions, time, etc. Personally, when I experienced psychedelic mushrooms, I could see with my own eyes that the trees breathe,
that there is an energy coursing through the planet, through the ground,
through the pedals of grass, through me, and through you. We are connected to
nature in an extremely intimate way and I am reminded of this connection every time
I observe nature. This is why my favorite form of exercise is hiking. I find
that if I do not spend some time outside every day (yes even in the winter) I
am a very grumpy girl. I think that may be a lot of people’s problems, their
lack of connecting with our true Home, Earth. Connecting with nature reminds me
that waking up to the sun is TRULY an enormous blessing and to be thankful for these
“little” things is what will bring us the greatest happiness. Our need as
humans to always work towards something can be beneficial and is what has
gotten us in rocket ships and doing brain surgeries but the feeling of “not
good enough” can also be source of our greatest pain. It’s great that we are
growing and wanting to do the best we can do but we must take a second and look
around and remember that all is okay.
That being is enough. That we are One with Nature, and if the mountains can do
no wrong, then neither can we. Can you imagine if every time someone saw the
sun, or the moon, a tree, another human, a mountain, a hill, a bee, or anything
in Nature and we were brought waves of happiness?? We would be happy all the
time. This can be our reality. All we have to do is remember who we are, what
we are, and what an amazing magical realm we’ve been born into. Remembering is where
I find happiness.
http://philoshap.blogspot.com/2017/12/final-report-1st-installment.html
ReplyDeletehttp://philoshap.blogspot.com/2017/12/music-happiness-latham-crihfield.html
^^^ These are where I commented on other's posts :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful statement, Madelin.
ReplyDelete"Can you imagine if every time someone saw the sun, or the moon, a tree, another human, a mountain, a hill, a bee, or anything in Nature and we were brought waves of happiness?? We would be happy all the time." That actually might be counterproductive, if "happy all the time" made us complacent about addressing the still-legion causes of unhappiness in our world. But I totally endorse the drift of this sentiment: we forget nature and "our place in space," and consequently lose perspective. Just opening our eyes to the wonders of our world and our improbable presence in it SHOULD alleviate much of the "normal" stresses of everyday life.
Good luck, and congratulations!
I loved reading this! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading this installment. We are a part of an amazing universe. If only more individuals could find such contentment in this as you clearly have.
ReplyDelete