I have realized that, regardless of external criteria, I am happy. I think that it's something from inside of me, chemical, like depression. Are you happy?

-- Kymm Zuckert (hedgehog@hedgehog.net), October 26, 2000

Answers

I do have the fortunate genes that keep me from being too depressed most of the time. Once someone described my journal as complacent, which I did not like!

Anita of Anita's BOD and Anita's LOL

-- Anita Rowland (anitar@halcyon.com), October 26, 2000.

This question makes me realize that I complain about stuff -a lot- but that generally I'm a happy person who's been extraordinarily blessed. My problem maintaining consistent happiness is letting the issues of the day send me plummeting into a tailspin. I just got myself a magnet of a dog drinking a blue martini and saying "Lighten up, Toots. It's a party." to remind myself not to take things so badly.

/Robert

/Robert

-- Robert (rbdimmick@earthlink.net), October 26, 2000.

What Robert said! :)

I have the same problem... I find I'm much more verbal about the crap in my life than about the good things. When in love, I have a hard time articulating to others that so-and-so is wonderful and I just feel so gosh-darned happy and and and... whereas, if someone annoys me, I have *no* problem finding the words and the energy to express it.

I grew up in a household where everything was a crisis, and if you were happy the crisis was more important and you should not be so happy because don't you know there's a crisis going on!??! Happiness was suspect. So maybe that's why. Yeah, that's it. Blame mom.

But actually, in actual thoughts/mood, and big picture, I tend to be very happy. When I'm not there's usually a fairly easy fix, if I can figure out what's at the heart of it. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. I have the extraordinary good fortune to be leading the life I always wanted, that I dreamed of and never thought I'd attain.

Sometimes, though, as Robert says, I need to be prodded to remember to take things lightly. :)

Ty

-- Tynan (ty@power-lines.com), October 26, 2000.

Basically, it was like Robert and me in the car driving to the reunion. I, little miss glass-half-full was all about having an adventure (except for when the snow was flying and I couldn't see the lines on the road) and Robert, little mister glass-half-empty-and-the- milk-is-probably-sour-anyway was highly annoyed about missing the fun stuff that was going on without us. I was annoyed too, of course, but I just decided to let it go, as there was certainly nothing to be done about it then. And besides, it made a good story.

Actually, Robert being all grumpy made me even sillier than I would have been, without him in the car I might have indulged in pouting about what I was missing, but since he was doing it for me, I didn't have to!

-- Kymm Zuckert (kymmz1@yahoo.com), October 26, 2000.

I guess I'd put myself into the generally happy camp, although when I get depressed, I get *really* depressed. Fortunately, that doesn't happen too often.

-- Catherine (catcoicrit@earthlink.net), October 26, 2000.

I find that I tend not to be overridingly happy, just because I am an optimist in practice and a horrible pessimist in my own head. I act and do things like they will turn out the best, but I am always running a list in my head of what should have gone wrong, and what happens if it still does.

-- Forrest Guest (psychogizmonator@hotmail.com), October 26, 2000.

I am generally happy. Everyone says I'm laid-back. I don't let things really get me down.

This does not mean that I don't bitch about things. But they're usually silly things that don't really mean a whole lot about anything. Crap on TV, bad drivers, parents that need parenting classes, things like that.

When something goes a little awry, I'm very Russian about it. "Nichevo" -- it means "it can't be helped" or "there's nothing I can do about it" -- and while I'm not quite that fatalistic, I don't get my panties in a bunch over something I can't do anything about. It just doesn't help.

Jas

-- Jas (jpacker@us.ibm.com), October 26, 2000.

being happy can be learned. i'm learning it one day at a time, little by little...

-- nicole (nicolemrw@go.com), October 26, 2000.

Oddly enough, I am happy these days. After years of being miserable, I just sort of said, "Ah, fuck it" one day and quit writing sad, unrequited love songs and just got on with the business of living. And I know exactly the feeling Kymm is talking about, when you're walking through the fall leaves towards your crappy little apartment and you realize that, all in all, you really like your life, this life that you've come up with. I quote Kristen Hall: "The picture's clear, the movie's my own./The flowers look good in the garden I've grown."

-- Lindsay Smith (mclinz@hotmail.com), October 26, 2000.

Happy, happy, happy. I bitch kind of a lot, but it's rare that I'm actually unhappy for any extended period of time. I remember once when I was in 6th grade or so, wondering how anyone could stay unhappy for days and days at a time. That pretty much sums it up, although I have a better grip now on how people can possibly not be just like me.

-- Jessie (blue@avocation.org), October 26, 2000.

Not particularly. I realize there are a great many cool things in my life which should make me happy, but there are also a few overwhelmingly bad things which pop up more frequently; being a diabetic pisses me off almost to the point of violence every single day, but things that make me stop and think about how great things are happen rarely. Recency and reinforcement are powerful forces in my life.

-- Colin (ethilrist@prodigy.net), October 27, 2000.

Trying, attempting, learning to be more laid back & find the joy in the little things. Wish me luck. Wish all of us luck! = )

-- kathryn kieran (iceqween@angelfire.com), October 30, 2000.

"Show me a person that can smile through all misfortunes and I'll show you a grinning idiot". Anon.

-- Django Swinefart (grig@hangnail.com), February 11, 2002.