Seen on the streets of Blue Ridge, GA:
What will you make today?
I just got back last night from a week in
Georgia with my friend Marianne, so bear with me while I unpack my suitcase and
sort out my impressions. I’ll write about the trip later in the week (lots of
delight: horses were ridden, hard cider was drunk, hikes were taken, daffodils
were transplanted, and more!). I’ll also be responding to your comments here on
my blog and catching up with yours! In the meantime, here’s a preview photo for you:
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| Georgia corn crib |
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| Photo courtesy Dominik Martin |
Introduction by Ted Kooser: If you’ve followed this column through a good part of the...years we’ve been publishing it, you know how hooked I am on poems that take a close look at the ordinary world. Here’s a fine poem by Eamon Grennan, who lives in New York state, about bees caught up against a closed window.
Up Against It
It’s the way they cannot understand the window
they buzz and buzz against, the bees that take
a wrong turn at my door and end up thus
in a drift at first of almost idle curiosity,
cruising the room until they find themselves
smack up against it and they cannot fathom how
the air has hardened and the world they know
with their eyes keeps out of reach as, stuck there
with all they want just in front of them, they must
fling their bodies against the one unalterable law
of things—this fact of glass—and can only go on
making the sound that tethers their electric
fury to what’s impossible, feeling the sting in it.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry
Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also
supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Poem copyright ©2010 by Eamon Grennan from his most recent book of poems, Out
of Sight: New & Selected Poems, Graywolf Press, 2010. Poem reprinted by
permission of Eamon Grennan and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2013 by
The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United
States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-
2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
You probably already
have a general idea of how happy you are, but did you know there are many
quizzes and questionnaires on the Internet that you can use to learn more about
how different aspects of life contribute to happiness? If you’re interested in
positive psychology and how to improve levels of happiness, you might want to
check out one or more of these. Each test is slightly different and none takes
longer than a few minutes to complete.
Visit the Authentic Happiness website for a selection of questionnaires to help you evaluate different aspects of
happiness.
Take a Happiness Quiz at The Pursuit of Happiness website.
See how the Brits evaluate happiness by filling out the
Oxford Happiness Questionnaire.
I got a B+ on the Blue Zones True Happiness Test.
Happify.com provides happiness testing every couple of weeks
for members, as well as a host of activities designed to improve happiness
levels. “Tracks” focus on the concepts of Savoring, Thanking, Aspiring, Giving,
and Empathizing. Access to the basic happiness tracks is free.
The benefit of these questionnaires and quizzes, in my
opinion, is that they help you think about your life in specific terms. What is
going well? How many stressful events have you endured lately? What types of
emotions have been surfacing? What could be improved? They can also help you
notice how good your life really is by helping you to focus on the positives. A
little reflection can go a long way towards improving your overall happiness.
Your mission today, should you choose to accept it, is to be
happy. Not just for yourself, but for those around you (there is proof that
happiness is contagious).
Why today? Because March 20 is International Day of Happiness, established by the United Nations to celebrate and promote “the
happiness and well-being of all peoples.” Truly a cause I can get behind!
Of course, there are a number of official happiness events,
and even a Facebook page, but you can celebrate in your own way. Take the chance to think about what makes you happy—and do it! True happiness
is not about what you have or only about seeking your own pleasure. True
happiness stems from, among other things, meaning and appreciation. I know I’m
happiest when I’m working at what I believe to be my true purpose, while at the
same time noticing and appreciating all the good things in my life.
So go ahead—be happy. (And do share on social media using
the hashtag #InternationalDayofHappiness.)
Here are three links to inspire you:
Happy music!
How will you celebrate happiness today?
