What Makes You Happy?

“Life is too ironic to fully understand”

 

 

 

A funny thing happed on the way to happiness…or at least my talking about it.

First, I saw the “Puppy Love” Budweiser ad that will air on the Super Bowl this Sunday. [Picture above, link below.]  Next I read a blog by John Brantingham at John Brantingham: Crime Fiction, Poetry, Literary Fiction, and Travel Writing

Fog and Dreams

“Back when I lived in the mountains above Los Angeles, I used to walk Archie, my dog, to the rim just about every day where I could look out over the city, and the dog could pad around, sniffing and exploring, chasing a lizard or squirrel. I loved looking down like that on the city I commuted to every day, but I liked it so much more when the hikes were foggy.”

Brantingham said that there was something about walking in the fog in the forest. Someone once told him that one of the effects of playing a didgeridoo was that it put the player in a trance-like state—the  same as his fog-walks.  The only thing that came close is a book that drags him out of the fog-state into making him believe that not only does he belong there, but so does everything he sees. And what’s even better than that is when he does it to himself.

So instead of writing about what keeps us from happiness, or all the fears that plague us, or the trauma of childhood that keeps us from being happy, or indeed, What Makes us Happy, I thought CRAPOLA, people want stories more than philosophy. And CRAPOLA again, it’s that oneness with everything, we could call a trance-like state, that puts us into the presence of the divine. That is what we are seeking.

Look at this Love in all the right places:

Budweiser: 'Puppy Love' http://wapo.st/1lol14K  via @PostTV

What Makes You Happy?

Elderly people laugh in Holguin, Cuba on April 27, 2012. STR/AFP/GettyImages

 

 

Rob Brezny who writes “Free Will Astrology”

in The Eugene Weekly appears to know me.

(Intuitively.)


This is from January 16, 2014

The Femish Artis Jan van Eyck (1385-1441) was renowned for his innovative mastery of oil painting. He signed many of his works not just with his name but also with his motto, Als ick kan.  "The best I can do."

What he meant was that he had pushed his talent and craft to the limit, and then stopped and relaxed, content that he had given all he could.

I invite you to have a similar attitude as you wrap up the projects you’re currently involved in, Aquarius. Summon all your passion and intelligence as you create the most excellent outcome possible, but also know when to quit. Don’t try too hard, just try hard.

 

 

Good ole' Zig--love that man.

 Okay, I will do as good as I can, and when I get there I will see further.

One person would have loved to send me a free sample of their product, but didn’t think I was worth it because I didn’t have a tremendous number of #BLOG readers, maybe it was followers, I don't know. (He could somehow see behind the scenes and get my numbers, sneaky person that he was.) What he didn’t see was what I lack in numbers,

 

I make up for in quality.

My Audience is the best! That’s you.
 

So between you and me, I am wondering what it would take for us

to be exuberantly happy? “

Here’s your chance, tell us what you think. What makes you

happy? jewellshappytrails@gmail 
 

 

"Most men live lives of quiet desperation” wrote Henry David Thoreau, “and go to their grave with the song still in them.”


Well, Thoreau said, "Men." He didn't say, "Women," Especially women who run with wolves, or  Newfoundlands, or poodles.

So I think for the next few weeks I am going to pursue the topic of happiness. “What does it take to make a happy person?” Especially you. How about telling the exclusive readers of this blog about it?

Tune in next week, I can’t wait to see what we

come up with.

Thank you for your continued support,

Joyce

P.S. I bought my own book, Mother's Letters...and mine. I had to see how it looked on #Kindle. Guess I will send myself a handwritten thank you note. If you purchase this book for the incredibly small sum of $2.99, I will send you a hand-written thank you note also—snail mail still works, handwriting still works too. Of course that means you will need to send me your name and address. Write a review for the book, and I will send kisses along with the note.

jewellshappytrails@gmail.com

Click here and it will take you to Mother's Letters...and mine by Joyce Davis

 

 

 

Holding Up Your Face

Have you noticed that it takes more effort these days to hold up your face?

Maybe you are a lot younger than me, and haven’t discovered that yet. Maybe it’s just me. I look at myself in the mirror and I don’t look so bad, but when I see a photo of myself, I wonder what happened.

Well, I discovered the truth. In the mirror I inadvertently hold up my face. A photograph catches me slack-jawed.

I read one writer who asked the question, “How does your writing look at its relaxed state? Do you let it drop like our face? “

Oh my, the pressure. Hold up your face. Hold up your writing.
 

Regarding the cover, I painted it twice. First I painted it looking at a photograph I found online, added a mailbox, and then my friend told me that painting from someone else’s photo is verboten. You must take the photo yourself, she said. Sunday Neil and I drove around our countryside photographing trees. I felt like a designer on Project Runway. On that TV show they sometimes give the contestants a camera and turn them loose in New York City to look for inspiration.

The tree on the cover is loosely interpreted from one that sits in a field next to our Safeway store here in Junction City. The fence and mailbox are a fabrication. This painting ought to legal, upfront and meet specifications. Although it didn’t copy online as clear as I expected. 

 

Which name and cover do you like best?

 

 

This one is available on amazon.com

Six Billion?

 

 

“How many people are there in the world,” Little Boy Darling (five-years-old next month) asked me yesterday.

“Oh I think about three billion,” I said.

“Wow,” he said “That’s enough to make me fall of a cliff.”

He fell off the couch instead.

Actually I was off by  half. The population is more like six billion going on seven. That’s a lot of pushing out babies. Ouch.

“When I was a little girl…” sounds like an old-timer doesn it? “When I was a little girl,” I told him, “there were half as many people living as now.”  We were both astounded.  I remember my family going fishing when I was a child and we were the only ones on the riverbank. By the time I grew up it was difficult to fish in the old fishing hole for it was swarming with people. All those people deserve to be here the same as we do; it is just astounding that’s all.

 

And it makes me wonder what we who are getting somewhat long-in-the-tooth can give to the world.

Some say the world advances because old codgers die off taking their out-moded ways with them. Out-moded, yes, take them. Prejudices, Paternalism, the need to fight wars, yes, take, it take it. Territorialism, yes.  But let’s not lose sight of some of the wisdom of the ages. Let’s still read philosophy, and ethics, and use the scientific-method. Although I have some issue with the scientific method. For a long while the world has been viewed as purely physical, of matter being the thing we can see, touch, smell or taste. That was it. Now we are finding that doors are opening to other understandings.

I just completed the book Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander, M.D. where he tells the story of his NDE (Near Death Experience.) One of the most astounding things about his experience was that he was a neurosurgeon, and thus understood the workings of the brain. Second, during a week in coma, he had NO BRAIN ACTIVITY in the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that makes us human, that thinks, and conjures up all the inventions we think are so great. So his experience came to him from someplace else.

It made me think about the spirit, the soul of a person and how it can live outside the physical form. And that is what we take with us when we die.

Joyce

 P.S. Hey, I only need a few of those six billion people to buy my book and I could claim for real that I found $10,000 in my desk drawer.  As I said, at 99 cents it’s a steal. The Noble Art of Living, information on http://www.jewelld.net.hostbaby.com

 

What if?

 

What if?

I ran away this morning and parked my faithful truck beside gentle rolling hills laden with green spring grass just coming up. (Spring?  This is January!) To my left are Douglas fir trees about 12 feet high. This stand of firs looks as though intended to be a Christmas tree farm, but the trees are acting on the wild side.

Some of the firs beside me need to be cut or they will die in the crowding—it’s nice to know that not every Christmas tree cut is a travesty. I see a perfect one. Perhaps I will claim it for next year if I can find its owner.

My grandson and I have been housebound for the last few days computing—that is using our respective computers.  He will be 5 next month and already he can drive that mouse like a Ferrari.

The two adults of this family with their respective jobs take the two vehicles leaving me without wheels. No wheels, no horse? Preposterous!

It’s been alright though as I have been busy trying to get yet another book cover completed.

"What about calling a book WHAT IF?", our friend John asked this morning at breakfast. “Wouldn't that get attention?"

I did use “What if,”  in a tweet, but his question set my mind off…

What if we had a direct pipeline to the Great Spirit?

What if the world wasn’t set up as we thought?

What if happiness is a choice?

What if we had access to our own healing?

What if dying wasn’t something to fear, but a great adventure?

What if we banded together and started thinking positive thoughts about people, the world, the financial situation, political unrest, and the eradication of disease on our planet?

What if thoughts are physical  things?

What if I shut up now so you can think your own What if’s?

A micro-second later I turned my attention to my briefcase where my computer was housed, and as I reached into a pocket I found a little booklet I’ve had for over 20 years titled The Ultimate Secret (To Getting Absolutely Everything You Want) by J.D.

J.D? I’m J. D., but not that J.D. J.D’s book was published by The Secret Library out of San Diego CA. The author’s identity is a secret as well for he feels that the greatest gift one can give is the key to successful living.

It is a tiny book, costs only $1.50. It was published in 1982, so I don’t know if that still holds.

J.D. doesn’t mince words making his manuscript fit publication guidelines of 82,000 words, but gets to the point in a 15 minute read.

The secret is: BE WILLING TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES.

First recognize that you are the source of everything that happens in your life.

Second, have a clear idea of what you want.

Third: Commit to it!

How about that?

Simple, huh?

 

Let's add another. HAVE FUN--like this horse making a snow angel...