2/21/13

"Happiness consists in realizing it is all a great strange dream" - Jack Kerouac

Ok, let's start with this question - what is a dream? I mean, there are the kind we have when we're asleep - aka fantasies, the kind we strive for, the kind we hope for, etc. Are they all the same thing? I'd argue that no, they aren't. I mean, I once had a dream while asleep where I was back in middle school, which I hated, and the whole place was made of different types of cheeses (yeah, I think I went to bed hungry that night) - it was definitely a dream, but also definitely not something I was striving or hoping for! Now, on the other hand, I dream of moving to Alaska - this is something that I want to make a reality, I strive and hope for it, but it has nothing to do with me being asleep. So, I argue that there are multiple definitions to the term 'dream'. So, the meaning of the quote depends on which definition you apply to the word dream ...

So, with that in mind the quote can either be saying that Happiness consists in realizing that being happy is a strange something we strive for OR that Happiness consists in realizing that being happy is a great strange fantasy type scenario. To me, the first interpretation is kind of optimistic - that happiness is realizing that being happy it something you have to strive for. However, the second is kind of depressing in that is seems to imply that happiness consists in realizing that being happy is a great strange fantasy, and not reality!

Now, I tend to be a glass have empty kind of girl - my philosophy goes like this: I am situationally optimistic - and if the situation involves me, I am not optimistic! That being said, since I am turning over a new leaf in 2013, I chose to interpret it the first way - that in order to be happy you have to first realize that being happy is something you work for, and not something that passively comes to you when you sit on the sidelines!

So here's to finding your happiness and actively pursuing it!! :-)