My long-lost brother is visiting me in southern California from Switzerland this summer!
I'm learning to blend with his touristy ways even though, despite all his picture-taking and wide-eyed oggling, my brother is strangely adamant about his supposedly being a local. He even tries to drive like one, which is an amazing phenomenon all on its own...
ANYWAY - getting off topic.
The Pattern: after any fabulous day out with my brother we end up squeezing in at least one semi-serious discussion in the car ride home. (I guess we don't really "squeeze" anything since with LA traffic your kids could have grandkids before you reach your neighborhood. or before you even realized you had kids...)
So the other night we were following this ritual Pattern again after some cleansing sea air at Manhattan beach and a search for our names in the Hollywood walk of stars. My brother found his name:
We began talking about happiness and satisfaction. As travellers, we often feel hungry for more - always looking for new roads, new experiences - nothing seems enough. Sure, we may be happy during our journeys, but to have our wander lust completely sated? Never. It is as if we don't allow ourselves to enjoy the moment. Lost in the stress of daily tasks, we only realize after the end, when we are stuck in some boring, crowded office showing our disinterested coworkers glimpses of our nomadic life, that we appreciate the kind of paradise we've experienced. Been there. Done that. But why aren't I there now!
What is it that we seek? What is the object of these endless searches? The research, getting lost anyway, the money, the effort - we tire ourselves out - and for what? What is it that we really need?
Well, technically, we don't really need much of anything.
What are the things that we really need to do in life? Feed ourselves. Be nice to people. That's it. That's all we need, really. If everyone lived with these two things in mind, we would have world peace! Not to mention peace of mind.
But even with that, we cannot be satisfied. And why should we? Why do we need to be completely, one hundred percent happy and satisfied? The hunger drives us to progress, to seek more, to improve. Without it where would we be? Ok, maybe we wouldn't have destroyed our earth to such an extent, but everything else is driven by this unexplained "need". Maybe absolute satisfaction isn't the point. Sure, it's nice to have moments when we can clear our minds and just enjoy the ocean's caress, but is it necessary or even a good thing to have always? Happiness isn't a stage in a video game you can achieve and just continue on after you pass the level. It takes constant maintenance, which is the way life should be. Constant maintenance. Continuous stream of choices that guides us through our adventures toward our inner peace.
Let's get happy :)
