Who Knew?

The Gambler

Sometimes I get really sentimental, and this is what happens. So here is me, in a mood rarely shared.  I usually escape into my world and listen to whatever makes me feel like this, today I felt like it was time to share it with others.  Maybe we are all gamblers, just trying to make it through the hand we are dealt.  The lyrics in this song apply to so many things (the chorus specifically) in life.  But I would rather be a gambler, then sit by and watch the others play.

When our fore father’s were writing what would become one of the most important and controversial documents framing societal mores so to speak, they obviously believed that “happiness” was an important  factor by including;

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” one of the most famous phrases in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and seen as part of the Bill of Rights, namely, these three aspects are listed among the “inalienable rights” of man.

It seems in this time of political turmoil, an ongoing war in Iraq and the economy stressing out just about everyone, the subject of “happiness” is being discussed and dissected more than ever.  

Time magazine devoted an issue to The New Science of Happiness. 

The British BBC television kicked off a six part series on the subject this week;

“The series looks at the newest research from around the world to find out what could it be that makes us happy.

We all want to be happy but the problem has always been that you can’t measure happiness.

Happiness has always been seen as too vague a concept, as Lord Layard, Professor of Economics at the LSE and author of “Happiness - lessons from a new science” points out.

“There is a problem with the word happiness.

“When you use the word happy, it often has the sort of context of balloons floating up into the sky or something frivolous.”

Now scientists say they can actually measure happiness.

Neuro-scientists are measuring pleasure. They suggest that happiness is more than a vague concept or mood; it is real. “

Clearly “happiness”, it’s meaning and importance differs individually.  The following are some fascinating and revealing quotes about the subject from writer’s, philosophers and other colorful characters I found worth sharing:

•  I have the true feeling of myself only when I am unbearably unhappy. ~Franz Kafka

• If only we’d stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.  ~Edith Wharton

• Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys.  If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.  ~Fyodor Dostoevsky 

• This is my “depressed stance.”  When you’re depressed, it makes a lot of difference how you stand.  The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you’ll start to feel better.  If you’re going to get any joy out of being depressed, you’ve got to stand like this.  ~Charlie Brown

•  You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. ~Camus

• There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year’s course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word ‘happy’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.~Carl Jung .

Obviously there are divergent views of the concept of “happiness.”  The song below is my own way of perhaps mocking the idea as well as sharing a great tune.  There is a great deal of controversy over what the song means.  Some claim it represents heroine, others say it refers to homo-erotocism, and a bevy of other theories.  I won’t even pretend to know what was meant by the song, but for me it is one more brilliant contribution from the Beatles both musically and philosophically. 

The Beatles - Happiness is a Warm Gun

It seems to me that we are so busy worrying about “happiness” and attaining it that perhaps we are missing the point all together.  With that said, I want to know what “happiness,” the word or idea mean to you?  Are you happy?  Do you care?  Either way, feel free to share your thoughts, I look forward to exploring this further and maybe even learning something about myself in the process.  Have a “happy” day.

Copyright ©2008 Veronica Romm

A question came to me yesterday seemingly out of the blue.

“Does G-d have a G-d?”

Does any religion address this? Do any of you have a suggestion, or answer? I am seriously curious now because I never once thought about this before. Please feel free to offer up an opinion or a belief, perhaps even an explanation.

Copyright ©2008 Veronica Romm

This is the Proust Questionnaire once regarded as a party game where guests would write their answers in a book. Today it is used by Vanity Fair as their final page to ask relevant individuals either featured in the magazine or otherwise to answer. Also there is a version that James Lipton uses in his interviews with movie stars on Inside the Actor’s Studio, on Bravo. I wanted to post it as a way of letting those who are curious get to know me a little better. I would love to have some of my more frequent visitors do it and whether you wish to answer in a comment or in a private email either way feel free to share, or just read and think about your answers.

~What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Losing a loved one

~Where would you like to live?
A beachfront property.

~What is your idea of earthly happiness?
The feeling of intense love and connectedness to another.

~To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Absent mindedness and escapism

~Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
Superman

~Who are your favorite characters in history?
Martin Luther King Jr., Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein,
Catherine the Great, Marilyn Monroe

~Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
Audrey Hepburn, Princess Diana, Golda Meier

~Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
Not sure will return

~Your favorite painter?
Salvador Dali

~Your favorite musician?
Jimi Hendrix

~The quality you most admire in a man?
Honor

~The quality you most admire in a woman?
confidence

~Your favorite virtue?
Patience

 ~Your favorite occupation?
Doctor

~Your most marked characteristic?
Intelligence

~What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty

~What is your favorite color?
turquoise blue

~What is your favorite flower?
Sunflower

~Who are your favorite writers?
Dostoevsky, Austen

~Who are your favorite poets?
Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Plath, Dickinson

~Who are your heroes in real life? 
My mother

~What are your favorite names?
Alexandra, Sophia, Max, Jack

~What historical figures do you most despise?
Hitler, Stalin

~What natural gift would you most like to possess?
To Sing

~How would you like to die?
Quickly

~What is your present state of mind?
Pensive

~Favorite swear word?                                                                                                                                                                               
fuck

~What is your motto?
This too shall pass

• It is a wise father that knows his own child.
• That which in mean men we entitle patience Is pale cold cowardice in noble breasts.
• Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.
• If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?
• We know what we are, but know not what we may be.

http://shakespeare.thefreelibrary.com/