Musings on Happiness

Several years ago, I realized that there are three areas of my life that largely determine my emotional state at any given moment.  These are not necessarily the most important, as family and health top that list, but they are crucial to what I deem my "happiness".  The three are: career, love life, and theatre life, in no particular order.  (Obviously, career encompasses both enjoyment and solvency.)  

In order to be less-than-miserable, I need for one to be working well.  In order to be well content, I need for two to be in good shape.  As I can count the number of times I've had all three going right at the same time on one ... well, finger ... that's a level of bliss I dare not expect.

For a while now, though, none of the three have been going well (granted, I decided a few years ago that relationships are something I don't do well and so gave them up) and I've been pressed to probe deeper in order to keep my head above gloom.

Taking a cue from Julie Andrews, I've been relying on some of my favorite things and thought they are worth listing ... even if they have little to do with raindrops on mittens.

Here are some of the things that keep me from despair:

Snuggles with my cats
Daydreams
REALLY good chocolate
Laughter with friends
My father telling me about the women who flirt with him
Perfecting a trick on the pole that has eluded me
Remembering the words to a song I used to love
The sight of a beautiful chandelier
A warm towel after a shower
A book that is difficult to put down
The first sip of a good glass of wine
Seeing a friend whom one rarely sees but misses terribly
A good hair day
That sexy dress still fitting
A place to wear that sexy dress
A client who says you've made a huge (positive ) difference in their life
A candlelight dinner - even if it's solo
A day without a technology problem
Knowing all the laundry is done for at least a week
Going to bed without setting the alarm clock
A gorgeous guy who flirts with me, even though I know I'll never see him again.

If I never act (on-stage) again, and if my job totally falls apart and I wind up unemployed and possibly homeless, I hope to remember these things that got me through some tough times ... and I hope to develop another list to get me through that.