Monday, August 29, 2016

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 29

Look at my happy kitty
Monday's happiness: Everyone checked in. I got three chatty little emails from dear old friends today. 

•  My oldest friend is listening to Burt Reynolds' autobiography as she drives to and from work and is enjoying it.

•  My friend in Key West reports that he is still loving his new library job so much.
•  John sent me a photo of JBKO he was sure I'd never seen before.  (Nice try, John.)

Nothing earth-shattering or newsworthy. But the messages made me smile because they remind me that I have vibrant friendships with deep roots. My oldest friend and I have known each other since Kindergarten. John and I have been friends 35 years. I've known my friends in the Keys since 1992.

I am blessed.
Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy cat. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find. 

So much sadness!

I'm really glad I still have to do my August Happiness Challenge post, because today I need to be reminded of the joy in my life.

I'm fine. Not delighted. Not delirious. All the physical complaints and money woes that plagued me yesterday are still here. But I'm fine. I'm good. I am, by and large, happy.

But today I have been confronted by sadness all day long and it's weighing on me. What is my responsibility in all this? Should I be doing more?

First, the double-edged sword. The day started with a Big Announcement. After months of intense competition, the agency I work for was awarded a very large piece of very high-profile business. While I'm not directly effected, I can still rejoice because it makes layoffs less likely. Yea! Also, lots of young people at the very beginning of their careers worked so hard and this success must mean the world to them. BUT I can't help thinking about the agency that lost. Our Big Boss warned us all not to "be jerks and assholes on social media." He's so right. At another agency, on the other side of town, people were wondering if they'd be employed come Christmas. This is my (gulp!) 35th year in advertising and I know that this is the way it works. I accept it. But it still makes me sad. Even when the economy is good, there is not enough work to go around.

Then there's Katie. Poor Katie. A dear and sensitive girl, an expectant mother. She's taking this week off to be with her brother. He'd been undergoing treatment at the Mayo Clinic for cancer but they released him. Not because he's better. I worry about Katie and the baby she's carrying.

Then there was the guy on the train. I try to remember the homeless I encounter on street corners. But I hate it when people solicit for funds on the el. It's a confined area and there's something so intrusive and almost hostile about it. Today this man started reciting his tale of woe -- about diabetes and needing cash for gauze and a bandage. I didn't raise my eyes from my book. I didn't hear any of my fellow rush hour passengers reaching into their wallets, either. So I was sure it was a scam. Then he walked in front of me, on his way to the next car. Oh. My. God. His pant leg was rolled up and if I really saw what I thought I saw, part of his calf was missing. Gouged away! And I couldn't be bothered to look up! I'm haunted.

Then there's Pervy Walt at the end of the hall. A box of his belongings is just sitting in front of his door. Looks like linens and clothes. I have no idea what's going on, but I'm sure it's not good. He's 90 and alone, with health problems. My first impulse is to ask him if he needs help, but because of Walt's "issue" with me, that's not a good idea. Still, it makes me desperately sad.

And here I am, a cat by my side, watching Kris Bryant slide into home. I am so lucky to be happy. I feel very guilty about it.



August Happiness Challenge -- Day 28

Look at my happy kitty
Sunday's happiness: Afternoon at the movies. I've been so Cubbie obsessed this season that I haven't wanted to miss a single game, and that has cut into my movie going. However the local theater has three movies I wanted to see, and my team was in LA so they had a late start time, so I was able to catch a matinee.

I saw Florence Foster Jenkins with Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant. Of course Meryl Streep was impressive, she always is. But Hugh Grant was a revelation. It's so seldom that we see him disappear into a character. Simon Helberg -- he of the Beatle bangs on Big Bang Theory -- is also very, very good.

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy cat. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.