What makes you happy?

So, C J sent me a link to a video on YouTube. It is a pretty silly video (methinks), but she said it makes her happy.

As often happens, this converged with two other interactions to form a trio to which I knew I needed to pay attention.

The first was a question Gem posited while we were at Creekside (not A2's closest approximation of Zingerman's). I had just finished litanizing (Clem, is that a word?) on the areas of life that are really hard right now, prompting her to ask if anything was enjoyable.

The second was catching snatches of "The Pursuit of Happiness", the new movie with Will Smith. It is about a man who struggles to provide for his family and has a rough go of it, but eventually triumphs.

As I reflected, I realized that I'm not sure I pursue happiness very much anymore. I think I've replaced seeking happiness with seeking respite. That should probably change.

So, as a small start in that direction, here are some things that make me happy:

• human diversity
• watching airplanes fly
• staring at the lake in not A2
• catching a fish
• planing a piece of wood
• finding an elusive and desirable record
• rollerblading
• writing in my blog

These are, of course, additional to the usual suspects - like being with my family and friends and harassing the bowz.

Some of these things I haven't enjoyed in a long time.