5-5:20pm: What were some thoughts that went through your head today? What did you do with them? Are you going to do anything with them? What do they mean?
Think of your life as literature. It IS. It’s a story. You’re writing even when you’re not writing. So… what did you write today?
FYN (For Your Notes): Thoughts are always valuable and can be used.
FYN: You and your days are never boring or regular unless you choose to see them that way.
FYN: (a bit off-topic). Your journal is YOUR journal. Use it for this class, personal writings, ANYTHING written. Don’t overthink or even think about it.. just use the pages. They are ALL yours.
5:20-5:40: How do you define happiness? Do you have some specific visual or conceptual image or feel of what it is? Why is it so seemingly hard to acquire at times? Is this imagined? What the F/CK is happiness?
FYN: Happiness can’t be defined maybe, just chosen and lived….?
5:40-6:05pm: Initial reactions and thoughts to Ms. Lawson’s book. I find that she’s as kind and loving as she is snarky and slightly venomous. What about you?
FYN: Her exploration of depression is what I’d call artfully quirky, poetic…. You?
FYN: She shows us how people connect, and affect each other. And, how there is nothing more attainable than our own identity.
6:05-6:20pm: What are some lines from the book that gave you insight into her mind and intentions, personality and writing style? Anything that makes you feel something as a reader, that leads to more questions you’d want to ask Ms. Lawson?
6:20-6:30pm: Close…. WHAT DID YOU WRITE IN YOUR NOTES/JOURNAL TONIGHT? What are you walking away with?
ASSIGNMENT: Read the next five chapters in Lawson’s book, type a 2-page opinion paper on her reason for writing.
#professormikey 
Well… Nothing too special I didn’t know what I wanted to eat that was the most exciting part of my day so once I figured that out I sat down Finished my assignments and watched Netflix.
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Whatup everyone!!!! Tell me something AMAZING!!!!
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One thought that met me today was, “How do we find new ideas, or do they only find us?”
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Elizabeth Gilbert has a notion that ideas and inspiration are gifted to us by the universe and we must bring them to life otherwise it will move on to another person. I like this notion quite a lot
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Me too!!! 🙂
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Today I felt okay. Very weighted down and tired though, but still better than other days. I worked on repairing my cat’s carrier backpack while I caught up on YouTube videos. I tried to declutter my brain as much as possible. But no matter what I do I’ve been unable to escape the thoughts about my little sister, and how worried I am for her. At 10 she has seen so much sadness, my heart hurts for her. I feel guilt that I can’t be there physically for her as much as before. I feel frustrated that I’ve been put in the position to handhold my neglectful parent. I took out my frustrations on my work today. Just kind of felt like I got by today. Today my story was just about coping and getting by and doing things that help my brain.
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Thank you for being here… sending you positive everything. 🙂
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Today I got to use my imagination in acting class.
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Nice!!
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Good afternoon! Some thoughts that went through my head today were about my how different things are today compared to 2 years ago. I work in healthcare so it made me think about how much of our patients have been getting covid and have been feeling depressed due to quarantine. It made me think about things people could do at home to keep themselves feeling good, for example working out and reading books.
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Hi Lizeth!!
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Definitely feeling like a twilight zone moment!
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I woke up this morning feeling pretty good, I cooked some microwavable burritos and thought about how to save my party members in this video game I had been stuck on. I quit the game out of rage a few months ago and opened it up today and thought, “this situation isn’t even that bad, I just had to think about it.” It was a nice feeling realizing that if I just calmly approach a problem from different angles it’ll probably work out fine. It made me think about how sometimes emotions get in the way of seeing clearly if you’re upset, I’m gonna work on managing my temper.
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We can all work on that. Cheers to you..
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Hello Everyone! My number one thought today was how excited I am going to work after all these months!
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what kind of work do you do?
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I work in a winery
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Oh yeah… which one again???
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Nice!
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Sterling Vineyards!
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Did you tell me that already? I want to come by and get some vino… text me when you can.
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lol, yea Nice! ok will text you with some details!
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HI PATRICIAAAAAAA!!!!!!
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HI!!!!!!!!!!!
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Today was pretty busy since most of my classes are on a wednesday, a thought that met me today was, “where would i be right time if covid didn’t happen”. I guess that’s a question we all have stumbled across.
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Think we find new ideas when a person wants more out of life.
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SO TRUE!!!!
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Did a five mile rain run with the pup. Running in the rain is one of my favorite things to do! S
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Nice!!! Was gonna run but did the bike instead… one hour, and it felt effing AWESOME.
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Sweet!!
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Well, a lot of my thoughts were dedicated towards my three hour Bio class that I just concluded, with other thoughts going out to the Magic The Gathering expansion that I am looking forward to playing as of tomorrow.
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I had a lot of thoughts going through my head today such as what did I want to eat or if I wanted to do homework today. The thought that stuck with me the most today though and had me thinking all day was how much money I could have made from the stock market if I had bought some Gamestop stocks 2 days ago lol
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One of my thoughts that were going through my head was how I was going to spend my day off today but sadly school stuff kinda is taking most of the day
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Why is that sad? That’s great, especially if you’re loyal to your aims and ambition.
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I took today to research and plan out the things that I want to do. I thought a lot about what I want to get done within the next couple years. I was looking at the different pathways that I could take in order to get to where I see myself in the future.
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A thought that passed by today was that I need to write a speech for my Comms class and I still havent picked a topic.
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What’s the first one that comes to mind?
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The speech has to be about a voiceless entity, so maybe something to do with nature such as deforestation.
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I love that!! Write it!!
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Hello everyone! Its curently snowing at my house which is super weird
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Where are you?
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Just outside of Geyserville
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Wow, that is weird. But beautiful. Enjoy!!
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Another thought for me…. More pen to paper and less time on this f/cking laptop.
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that’s pretty cool
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Today I thought a lot about what’s truly important to me. Finding out my grandma tested positive for Covid has really left me feeling a whirlwind of emotions. Today I reflected on what I do for my family and is it enough? I thought a lot about the fear I have been feeling. How it’s just consuming and really nothing else. I thought about how I could be proactive, but besides calling and asking her nurses how she’s doing, there isn’t much I can do. So on top of feeling scared, I am also feeling useless. I feel like these thoughts and feelings aren’t pointless or a waste of time, but I do want to make sure I don’t dwell on them. It’s important to me that my family, but more specifically my grandma, knows how special they are to me. I’d like to think of ways to communicate that to her even though I am unable to see her.
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Sending positive EVERYTHING your way. Thanks for being here tonight.
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Some thoughts that I had today was about work and how frustrating its getting! I want to Quit sometimes but at the end i know its not the kids fault! i wrote some of my thoughts down in my journal and some of them i spoke with my director. Work was a load today.
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Do what’s best for you, always.
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I suppose some thoughts while I was unloading a truck at work was how do I get a better job, a less demanding and less physical job, I am always thinking what the next step should be and how, will I achieve it. Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with physical labor but I think I am starting to have my fill.
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Today I woke up with a mind full of tasks I needed to do. I’m waking up every morning now thinking about how long my days will be. But I took it one step at a time. Did every small thing that needed to get done one after the other.
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Healthy approach. And days are never long, they are loaded. With opportunity. 🙂
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I feel as though subtle changes in mindset such as this are key to long term success. Shifting a potential negative into a positive outlook can really bring out the best feelings and thoughts in life, IMO!
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Another thought that I had was how hard it is to actually write on paper after not needing to for awhile. Since School became online, I have barely written on paper and my hand writing has gotten so bad that it sometime takes me a little bit to understand what I am saying.
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That happened to me in the being of covid. You’ll get it back
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beginning
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My thoughts today were mostly about school stocks and the weather pretty boring day haha. But am I the only one who actually enjoys the rain and a change of weather out here?
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I LOVE the rain.
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Right?!
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🙂
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I love the rain! When spring comes and all the flowers bloom, my favorite!
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Rain sounds nice.
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Rain is music, and like Kerouac said… the only truth is music. 🙂
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Hey, nothing special today. I had class all day and have been doing some assignments. Nothing has crossed my mind today been kind of busy with classes. I had an art class this morning and one of my assignments is to draw anything I want so I have just been thinking about what I should draw, as I haven’t drawn anything for a while.
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Hi Tiffany!!! Welcome!!
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A thought I had today was that I want to go to bodega bay even with this weather and take a pen and paper and just write. At first, I thought that sounds silly, but now that I’m thinking about it, it sounds relaxing.
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That sounds awesome, you should definitely take yourself up on that. I used to live in Bodega Bay. One of my favorite things was to walk down to the beach and just draw or write. The rain plus the waves is so relaxing!
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Today was pretty interesting. All day I have been asking myself if going to school is the right thing for me. I don’t believe that you need to go to college to become successful, but it’s not a bad choice to go. I’m just very confused at the moment.
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Don’t rush into anything, and always do what’s best for you. I really admire your honesty.
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how dose everyone feel about the rain? personally not a fan, unless sleeping is involved; because at that point that point relaxing.
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I love the rain in the winter, but am a summer and hot weather lover at heart
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I love the rain, but not an excess of it.
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I love the rain, I’ll take the rain over any weather, any time.
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I kind of prefer for it to be raining because at least for me, its calms me down. I find myself getting less stressed out about things when It is raining outside.
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Not a fan either unless I’m sleeping
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Not a huge fan but i do love the way everything seems so much brighter and cleansed after the rain storms. Definatley miss the warm summer weather though!
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Symbolism, for sure.
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Hello! I had some thoughts today of wanting to practice a couple different songs on guitar to further become better at playing them, I ended up practicing guitar for a while but then went onto watching a movie and helping my mom bring in firewood from outside. I feel since quarantine started I have a lot of random thoughts that do not mean much simply to fill in time. Otherwise my mind today only gave me thoughts of music and food.
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Started reading Lawson’s book the other day and I’m actually enjoying it a lot the way t’s written with the author’s perspective is super interesting to me
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She always makes me laugh, and makes me feel comfortable in her approach to. moments and certain topics.
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Same here, I started reading the Lawson book this morning I found it interesting. It’s different compared to other English books that I’ve read in the past
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Glad you like it. What is grabbing you, or making you react, or take notes?
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What grabbed my attention is how she tells personal stories and leads by giving multiple examples , made me actually visualize her stories that she says about her mom
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Quotes you want to share?
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I thought a lot about the dentist today because I got my teeth drilled for the first time. I’ve never had a cavity before. It kinda traumatizing to be honest. I was really upset for like an hour after because a couple things I didn’t expect happened, but then I tried to start to learn a dance so I guess I used that to make myself feel better and move on. I’ve been having a really good time practicing this other dance I learned, so I figured I’d learn another so I would have two dances to practice so I don’t get bored of the first one. I don’t think I like dancing as much until I actually know the moves, but I’m itching to learn more later. Other than that I’m not going to do anything with those thoughts because they weren’t productive and I was overthinking. I think those upset thoughts meant I had a bad experience at the dentist because who wouldn’t when they have to get 4 cavities filled for the first time and two of them drilled. The result is now I’m going to take better care of my teeth and get better at flossing to avoid more cavities because the dentist is scary.
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Love this post, Lily. Thanks for sharing!
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I hate the dentist. They have to give me nerve blocks and extra novacaine because I’m so sensitive!
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So much to expand upon in Lily’s entry here… evil dentists, and those goddamn tools they just lay in front of you. Is that supposed to make you relax? lol
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Right? My wife is studying to be a dental assistant and yet I absolutely cannot stand going to the dentist! Those tools are legit terrifying
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Well today was my day off so I caught up on all my school stuff which was pretty chill. I read the first few chapters of the book and it actually was a big impact on my mood in a good way. I was dreading reading because it’s not my favorite, especially starting new books but it made me laugh which is new for books.
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Hey Nina!!!!!! You’re an awesome reader!!! But I get it, starting something new can be a bit daunting. Thanks for coming tonight!!
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i took a personal day off from work and used today to get more situated in school and organize my classes but other than that I felt i just simply thought about how crazy this weather is! I live in an apartment complex and so far a huge tree ripped out of the ground and we have a leak coming from the ceiling. wooohooooo
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Taking those days are important. Good for you Selena!!
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FYN: Look further into moments in your day that you would otherwise disregard, or think are not worthy of written response.
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FYN: Keep the inner conversation going throughout the day. You think your day is boring, or uneventful? You chose that perspective. Try seeing it another way.
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This last year has helped me do this more. I have found I have really grown in areas just because I’ve been able to spend dome time thinking about things and really feeling them
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When you think ‘happiness’, what do you think, see, envision?
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the ocean. myself rested and recharged
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Love that. Absolutely.
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To me, happiness is authentic moments. Just open, honest moments.
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Yes! Example?
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My best example would be FINALLY becoming a camp counselor at a summer camp I had attended for eight years. During the backpacking trips I led, I watched a group of young boys learn to be more tolerant, inquisitive, and understanding. The joyous moments we shared on our trips were so raw and fulfilling. Everyone there was actively doing something they were a little afraid of, and it brought out the best in all of us.
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I think of no longer having to think of how my presence effects the people around me, I see a home that I have all to myself with time, money, and a job that I don’t dread waking up to go to.
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Many people can relate to this, for sure.
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When I think happiness I picture stress free, rested.
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Paint a picture for us!!
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buy the way the book is interesting to say the very least, though the author is a bit hard to fallow, yet at the same time she makes every story, every bit and piece so vivid and colorful and she is definitely unapologetic abut it, which is really cool.
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Hello! Hope you all survived last night’s torrential storm here in NorCal, are well, and warm. It was rough indeed. I curiously watched something odd for no apparent rhyme or reason. The floods here inspired me to look up videos on rip currents, undertows, and tsunamis on Youtube. I learned how to survive them. Yep, it was distinctive and terrifying, but it help navigate my nerves to an intensified direction of something worse. Bottom line it could always be much worse. As it continues to precipitate, I felt inspired to listen to Lo Fi Hip Radio which carries soothing textures and ambient tones, suitable for the rain. I am focused on proper lighting in my workspace. Seasonal light diminishes my ability to see better and so I went to Home Depot this morning and bought a flexible task lamp. I highly recommend it for any person who studies or works. Our eye vision should be cherished and nurtured, because what if we go blind? Genetics could possibly play a huge part, but that is seriously an incapacity I just couldn’t bear to imagine… Lest we forget, folks like Helen Keller, a truly stellar example of how anything is possible.
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Cheers Dais.. well said.
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when i think happiness i think of my family and i see them achieving their goals! and envision everyone around me being in a good place!
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Yes! I am the same way, my niece and nephew have been hidden milestones and its just awesome!
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I think about the calm moments in life, the ones that give you perspective.
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When I think of ‘happiness’ I essentially immediately break it down into the individual things that make me happy. My cat, my wife, tea, and gaming are some of the key things that bring me happiness on a regular basis. But let’s be honest, it’s really about my fluffy cat and how much I love her.
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Love that approach… just wrote it in my journal, honestly. Thank you!
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Does your cat rule your household, when I had my cat she would act like we were her peasants! Ha!
1
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When I think of happiness, I picture myself with people I enjoy/love. Almost like a slideshow where we travel to different locations that I could never imagine.
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Have you traveled much?
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Yes and No. Yes inside the U.S. but No when it come to the rest of the world.
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Lots to see out there. You will.
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When I think of happiness, I see my family and my friends. Happiness is a lot of things to me like putting on a cute outfit, going for a walk outside, listening to music, and reading a new book!
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🙂
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when I think off hippieness I think of financial freedom, although it is hard to envision success, either you want it or you don’t and it doesn’t happen over night. just like growing a mango tree, hard and difficult but the end product is worth it.
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Great analogy here! Could you change your profile name to your full name, so I can give you credit, please?
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happiness is not a one mold fits all. happiness looks different on people and that is a beautiful thing to acknowledge. it can be hard to acquire at times because we are human and we are meant to feel all the emotions of the rainboww.
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when I think of happiness I think of myself spending time with my family and friends enjoying the moment and not letting negativity tag along
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Negativity tagging along… so true!
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When I envision happiness I see a life without the stress/obligation to commit myself to the ever-grinding wheels of late-stage capitalism. I see a life with nature, in a community, making art, learning, educating, and doing things because they make you happy. It’s a life that does not rely on external gaze for reassurance. You’re free to just dance, sing, paint, even if you’re not the “best” at it. It’s the freedom to live life earnestly without the notion that effort is embarrassing.
Ironic that I crave to escape the routine capitalism has set out for us, and yet I’m a business major. It’s probably linked to me being from a low-income, non-white family and also being trans and supes mentally ill. I think that because capitalism/the aMeRicAN DreAm are so intertwined and taken advantage of, that happiness is also taken advantage of. Redefined and repackaged to fit a certain timeline.
– this is just my hot take. I understand that a whole economic system can not just up and change. My view of happiness comes from finding pockets of community and love within the social/economic situation
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When thinking about happiness I just see brightness, smiles on my family’s faces, the little things and moments people take advantage of.
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When I think of happiness I think of things that I can remember and think back on later. I identify it with the people that make me happy. It’s a feeling that makes you forget whatever you might have been dealing with before and it allows you to just focus on what you are doing. Happiness can be so hard to acquire because we listen to a lot of things happening in our heads telling us that what we are doing is not helping us in the long run. It’s so hard to release and focus on yourself sometimes. Happiness is something that you have to allow to happen and It may not come if you don’t try to be happy.
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Focus on self is vital.
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when i think of happiness i think of surfing. its so calming for me and always lifts my spirits. theres just something about gliding along the waves and being in the water that makes me feel so free and connected to the natural world around me.
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I need to try surfing…
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the ocean is so so special and powerful
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so true!
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