On Happiness
“So what does happiness mean to you Kay?” + (trying out a new format)
I have been thinking about this question asked to me a lot lately. I think... a good anectode to describe is that feeling when you go to bed on of the hottest nights of the summer, a night so hot that you can’t even wear your t-shirt, your fan isn’t working and you have to sleep on top of the sheets instead of under them; although try to sleep is probably more accurate.
And then at some point late, late in the night, say just a bit before dawn, the heat finally breaks off and the night finally turns cool and when you briefly wake up, you notice that you’re almost chilly, and in your groggy, half consciousness you reach over and pull that sheet around you and just that flimsy sheet makes it warm enough and you drift back off into a deep sleep.
And it's that: reaching;; that gesture, that reflex we have to pull what's warm whether it's something or someone- towards us, that feeling we get when we do that; that feeling of being safe in the world and ready for sleep. that's happiness.
Some more reflections on happiness (trying out a new format):