Today's entry is easy... today I recognize the happiness I get from my dog. Not both dogs. Not the one who breaches the electric fence and barks at birds and harasses the mailman and eats donuts off the table. Just the other one.
Normally he is a hairy beast. Tufts of hair fly off his back as he walks by. Petting him results in a literal hand-full of hair. I use the Swiffer twice a day in an attempt to avoid being buried by it. I vacuum him regularly with the shop vac. Today, in an act of desperation, I took him to Petsmart to be shaved.
"Do you want us to blend in the tail fringe?" asked the groomer, as if this were a matter of beauty rather than a sanitation issue.
"Uh... no. Just shave it all off." I replied.
Don't tell Tuck, but he looks ridiculous. He looks naked, pale, and chubby. His tail looks positively rodent-ile. But I can't keep my hands off of him! He feels like a sleek palomino gelding instead of a 60s shag carpet. I cuddled him today like never before. I snuggled him until he tired of the attention. I can actually pet my pet. It's a miracle.
Ok. So, in support of your new effort to "recognize" as in re-cognize happiness, I have decided to "recognize" (re-cognize) boredom. Instead of running away from boredom, I will embrace boredom, study boredom, experience more boredom,become boredom, explore the boundries of boredom, etc.
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm not that far into it, having just read about ten great boredom quotes from various existentialist thinkers, and I'm already "getting" how great this is. How embracing rather than resisting that which I don't want, instantly dissolves the boredom.
At that moment I thought of you and said to myself "Nancy is an idiot". I thought that in the most loving and gentle of ways, but still...
You are surrounded by happiness anchors. You're like a fish who says "what water?" Compared to just about anyone who has come before you in history, your daily life reeks of the most amazing opportunities for experiencing happiness. For you to live one minute without experiencing the bliss of your abundantly happy life, is so sad.
Someday, you'll look back at this period of your life and think, "boy, was I an idiot".
That's how I think now, about me.
My new slogan is ENNUI ROCKS.