Happy Like God 06/28/2009
 In this New York Times feature the brilliant Simon Critchley writes about what it means to be happy. Critchley doesn't take a stance for or against religion/faith, but instead breaks it down in true philosopher fashion. That works out well, because he is a famous philosopher. Neat how that works, huh? As you know, I'm fascinated by the subject of religion. God bless (or don't, if you're not a person of faith) frequent commenter, Stacey, who has taken it upon herself to answer/guide/listen to me whine week after week via the... gasp... good old fashioned phone... as we go through the Bible together. Perhaps my friend Stacey, like many believers out there in blogland have suggested, might say that "I am being called by God". The cynics out there have told me, "You're simply looking for a way to justify madness." Perhaps both are true, leaving me in my predictable "not too cozy, but not uncomfortable enough to move my arse" position of Maiden in the Middle. There's some excellent observations in Critchley's post - I'd love to have you read it yourself and get back to me on it - but the one that made me almost fall out my chair in laughter (which I'm quite certain the writer didn't intend) was his quote from Rousseau who, in his version of happiness, would talk about laying down flat in a row boat off the coast of Switzerland. He quotes: "On the way to the island, he would pull in the oars and just let the boat drift where it wished, for hours at a time. Rousseau would lie down in the boat and plunge into a deep reverie. How does one describe the experience of reverie: one is awake, but half asleep, thinking, but not in an instrumental, calculative or ordered way, simply letting the thoughts happen, as they will." The writer goes on to say that, like God, this sort of experience is timeless. There is neither pleasure or pain, happiness or sadness. It just "is". I wanted to scream (in fact I did) "Well I guess there is no hope for mothers! When the hell are we going to get to lie down in our rowboats without worrying about life vests, kids drowning, who's wearing sunscreen, who got bitten by a tick on their nuts and who the HELL IS ROCKING THE gdarn canoe I'm going to KILL THEM!!!!!!!!" Motherscribe knows just a bit about this very subject. She could use a bit of your love if you have any to give. Believers and non-believers alike are welcome to leave a comment for her. For now, it's late. My family is snoozing, I'm going to be predictably cranky when tomorrow morning comes far too soon. Equally predictably, I have one day to buy a tent, supplies and miscellaneous camping gear for a trip we are leaving for on Monday. Thank God for my sane husband who: 1. Won't talk to me before my morning cup of Yuban. (Nor will he kiss me afterwards.) 2. Is spending the whole day with me preparing for our fabulous 3 days away. 3. Doesn't have faith in God, but doesn't mind a bit that I'm finding mine. That means more to me than having a partner who goes through the motions but couldn't give a poop. Good night. May you all be happy like God! Or at the very least, happy. And if you can't be (hey, it's totally normal and part of being human) than at least may you have a few laughs. CommentsThank you for this post. And for your loveliness. I adore you. 06/29/2009 08:59
At first I couldn't see what was wrong with the whole rowboat thing, but then you put it in the context of mothering and oh, yeah. LOL. Haven't read the article yet, but will now that you've put it out there...eventually. Like the worry-free rowboat downtime seems just a tad elusive these days! Catherine 06/30/2009 05:43
I came by just to make sure you'd seen that Sandra Tsing Loh article. And, of course, you had! 07/09/2009 20:52
Replace rowboat with blow up raft in the middle of Barton Srpings and that would be me. Happiness. But can't close the eyes for too long. Would drift into the No-Float area and lifeguard would blow whistle at me. Not happy then. LMAO on the mother in the rowboat. 04/27/2010 06:12
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