{"id":50,"date":"2015-01-19T05:21:43","date_gmt":"2015-01-19T05:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mudpuddlekiss.com\/?p=50"},"modified":"2015-01-19T05:21:43","modified_gmt":"2015-01-19T05:21:43","slug":"oh-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mudpuddlekiss.com\/index.php\/2015\/01\/19\/oh-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh, Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since last\u00a0autumn, when I began to make some marked changes in my inner life and schedule, I have experienced moments of pure happiness. Moments so unexpected they’ve left me giddy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, \u2018If this isn\u2019t nice, I don\u2019t know what is.\u2019\u201d<\/em> – Kurt Vonnegut<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it that the circumstances in my life have changed? Not hugely.\u00a0I still have many of the same struggles (finances, business stresses, health). But I think these gems I’m enjoying are the result of simply slowing down, make space in my schedule, and allowing myself to be content. Noticing when something makes me happy. It sounds so cliche, I know. Whatever. It’s working.<\/span><\/p>\n

Walking down the street, earbuds on, a perfect album playing\u00a0in subtle harmony to the breeze wrapping around me. Amazing.<\/span><\/p>\n

A fleeting\u00a0exchange with the old lady jaywalking while I wait at the crosswalk:<\/span><\/p>\n

“You rebel!” I say.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’m a wild thing,” she laughs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The recently discovered sweet, seductive warmth of scotch.<\/span><\/p>\n

Black coffee, on a quiet morning, with nowhere to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

The hush during a heavy snowfall.<\/span><\/p>\n

Words on paper written by a brilliant mind, leaving me gasping for air, heart pounding, or wiping away tears.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tiny, simple bits of life. So easily grasped if I am aware. How have I let myself miss them these last few years? I won’t waste much time on regrets or worry that I’ll miss more in the future. I just want to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

“In this story
\n<\/span>we sit down on Luna Bridge
\n<\/span>and catch snow in our cupped hands
\n<\/span>and music is
\ncoming from the houses
\n<\/span>or it sings inside me
\n<\/span>I begin to mend
\n<\/span>Oh happy, oh happy, the end,
\n<\/span>the end, the end.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this painting
\n<\/span>the whole world is navy blue
\n<\/span>I run home from the mailbox
\n<\/span>in all the dim of five o’clock
\n<\/span>to see you.
\n<\/span>Cars and trees go by me,
\n<\/span>you are in the yard
\n<\/span>and in my arms again<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh happy, oh happy, the end,
\n<\/span>the end, the end
\nHappy, oh happy
\n<\/span>the end.”<\/span><\/p>\n

– The Innocence Mission<\/span><\/p>\n