(written yesterday)
Ashley and I were having a bite to eat last night. At some point we began talking about happiness. Fundamental happiness. And lack of it. I’ve both at times here in Ethiopia. It comes with the territory of living and working for long stints outside of your own culture, and far from home.
This is this instant for me:
- Sitting out on the office porch
- Love Like a Sunset by Phoenix, at the four minute mark, playing on the laptop
- Sifting through the day’s photos and finding a few great, frame-able shots
- Teshome and Abreham preparing a bonfire to cook dinner, with Netsanet preparing a delicious storm in the kitchen
- 3 days from a hand-off on the office, marking a first year that was at least moderately successful, with new staff, new work, strengthened partnerships, Practica organizational growth and many new friends and acquaintances
- The First Drop is firing, with new team members, great designs, renewed passion and undiminished conviction
- Checking in with Holland in 3 days, experiencing NY for the first time (for this killer event) after that, thenVancouver for a month of fam and friends, surfing, weddings and relaxation. Beyond that to Oxford to begin the MBA.
Right now, right this instant, I’m fundamentally happy.
Travel, change and life flux does this for me. Does it do the same for you? How do you live through change? Prefer it or stability?
B
(by the way, I’ve left the shot above, from Vancouver in 2007, larger than usual. I enjoy clicking on it to view the larger size. Try it yourself.)
Check out more: Ethiopia - Canada - Life+Inspiration - Family - Travel - Work
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I love hearing about what makes people happy, and enjoy it even more to know that the people around me are finding reasons to smile.
Thanks for sharing this Brendan. After a lovely weekend in Toronto and after reading this post on happiness, I too, at this instant, am happy.
[Reply]
I, too, am always fascinated by the question of happiness. I sometimes waste time thinking in a parsing way of the difference between, say, being happy and being glad, or being happy and being content. Bertrand Russell, on the latter, said the first 6 months of a marriage are a struggle for control, and that after that one partner is happy and the other is content. Lincoln said (allegedly) that you can be as happy as you decide to be. And this from an unpopular wartime president with a disturbed wife, and who lost a young son. I agree with Lincoln and think that, allowing for some variability on the question, happiness can be a matter of choice.
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