Happiness

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to share with you a story about happiness. It is a story about finding happiness in the most unexpected moments in life. Come, join me as I walk you through one of those moments.

You are running up the hill with me. The morning is just beginning to dissolve into a blue sky. The trees, leaves and early fall flowers are gazing upon you serenely and smiling as they whisper to you gently the secrets the previous night brought them. We are gasping for breath as we make our way up the steep stretch at a slow pace. It forces us to gulp the dewy morning air. Have you ever noticed how this air has a certain taste to it? I like to think this is how rainy clouds would taste if I ever could eat them. Cool, misty and wonderfully light. The cool breeze stings a little but it feels refreshing as if that is exactly what our bones have been craving.

We are running uphill as the birds sing their morning songs. Some of them sing in sweet, short notes and others in a bit more rowdy tones. Either way, it is wonderful to listen to their ethereal compositions as they sing their morning prayers to existence itself. The little squirrel scurries across the path to bury some acorns; winter is only around the corner. The thicket of bay laurel trees emit a strong spicy scent and it clears every ounce of flesh. Our bodies feel anew, dreams clear and hopes seem too plausible. The world bows before us and we will it into a magical sphere where everything and everybody exist in peace.

As we made all the way up the hill, we are utterly happy. We sit down and gaze across the valley from under a low lying branch. In front of us lay the vast expanse of modern human markings. Silicon valley, what an amazing place! As we sit there, still in the moment, we notice the steam rising from behind us and we realize that it is our skin that is turning the cool morning dew into steam. It is like being in a cool sauna and our bodies are the furnaces. This is inexplicably delightful. Sun rays making slant shadows now feel a bit warm and we notice the dew reflecting a brilliant rainbow. Suddenly we are seven years old and a memory flashes in the space in front of us! We remember beding down on the moist ground and closely examining those tiny rainbows on a remote farm.. and the smell of red earth explodes all around us!

This is it.. this happiness! We realize what it means to be a human being. We are nothing but our feelings, memories and a collection of stories!