The Art of Happiness

I have spent the past few years exploring (to be kind) a lot of who I am not, in order to find out who I am. In the past few weeks, I have suddenly, miraculously, discovered this sense of unbridled happiness, to such an extent that it feels as if my very body will buckle and shatter to pieces as my soul erupts like some sort of supernova of joy sending little particles of happiness smashing in and through everything around me for thousands of light years. I have finally come to a complete awareness of this great feeling and processed what it was and how it came to be. My conclusion is a list of things one may do in order to attain happiness for the rest of their lives or (for as long as i can prove at this moment) an extended amount of time, at least. 

1. Do whatever you want all the time.
Anarchy? Sometimes when people hear this statement, the assume it has a negative connotation to it. For example, people often say, "well if everybody just did whatever they wanted to do then people would just go around killing and raping each other, and what kind of world would that be!?" (You would be surprised how many people propose this.) My answer to that proposal is that if other people feel that's what fits their fancy that's one thing, but it certainly is not mine as I am far more interested in enlightened things, and to the best of my knowledge from experience, most people don't actually like to or want to kill people or rape people. All of that stupid shit aside, it's important to know what you want out of life. Most people don't know they don't like something until they try it and there is great merit in trying new things, it helps you grow. If you don't know what you want, then you wont get or do what you want and you will obviously be unhappy. Ask any child who doesn't get their way, I'm sure they'll back me up on that. Some people say, yes it is wise to do whatever you want... then they add 'as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else.' This is laughably funny to me. Every single thing you do in life hurts someone else. You cannot escape that. The air you breathe is taking someone else's breath. To be specific, when you drive your car, your straight up destroying the environment. We all live on the Earth, therefore you've hurt everyone by going to work today. Asshole. Just Joshing you, lets get back on topic, now that we know that everything you do can, will, and does hurt someone else (obviously to different degrees, most often emotionally, in which case its an evident case of weakness of character on their part) and we know that in order to whatever you want you must know what you want to do, you now have the building blocks to complete step one.

2. Love yourself.
Contrary to the philosophy of my long time hero, Tyler Durden (Fight Club), we really are each beautiful and unique snowflakes. Not one of us is the same as another. Imagine a whole planet full and teeming with complete fucking strangers crawling all over one another, experiencing life, as bold and brilliant as it is. That's what's going on right now. You know just as much about what is going on inside of you as you do the world outside of you and that science fiction mind fuck should throw you into such a state of awe that you cant help but feel at one with everything.That one with everything feeling, that is pure love. It is infinite, undefinable, and has raw power that when accessed, can make you outshine the sun. Let's go deeper, who was with you when you were born? You. Who was with you last night, 10 minutes ago, right now reading this, and tomorrow (assuming you don't die)? You. You know what makes you feel good, you know what makes you feel bad, you know when and how you like to be touched, you know your favorite foods, movies, music, you're not afraid to dance in your house when no one else can see, you are your best friend and you'll be right there with you when it's time to pass on. That's fucking beautiful and if that beautiful, unique person doesn't deserve a tremendous amount of love, I just don't know who does.

3. Be sexual.
Honestly, I don't care about sex. My thoughts on it are that it's there merely for procreation and mankind has just perverted the act of sex to exploit how they feel about themselves and ultimately it is, in so many ways, just another control drama. That being said, It is an amazing way to connect with other people, ideally just one special someone. Exploring another's body is in a strange way, like exploring your own. Being sexual isn't just about having sex. It's about fashion and style. It's about the way you walk and talk. It's about courageously being who you want to be even if others my not understand or accept you. 

4. Wear tailored clothing.
In Texas, Austin namely, most people think it's okay to wear t-shirts with stupid things written on them, shorts with cargo pockets, and brightly colored tennis shoes made by under-compensated children in foreign countries, to bars and clubs. Worse even is the new plaid shirt trend. Please stop that. Immediately. To wear stuff like that, despite the oven we live in, means you've just given up or worse yet, you haven't even begun or don't know where to begin. It doesn't matter how big you are, how small you are, if your face looks like a baseball mitt or an angel's smile, Getting clothes that are tailored to fit your size and shape, accentuate your character thus making you more appealing, thus making you look good and in brief, when you look good, you feel good.

5. Try new things.
There is no real limit to this. You can use legal boundaries if you feel you need to, (Just understand that law only exists so long as people uphold it) but most people grow immeasurably by trying things they have never done before. I do this most commonly by facing my fears. For example, I am a horrible swimmer. I do try to get in the water even though I know there are giant leviathans and alligator gar fish that only want to eat me in there. I've been skydiving, on a motorcycle going 180 mph, sailing during squalls, and so many other things that I'm not willing to write about in this blog. If it scares you, buck up and try it. There is a trick to this though and it is the next step to happiness.

6. Have conviction.
If Cosimo disagrees with Hubert and visaversa, they should believe so strongly about what they believe in that they're willing to die defending their beliefs. That's respectable and honorable. Try not to be foolish and go around telling everyone what you think about this, that, and the other, because you may have to die sooner than you intended and probably, your opinion doesn't matter anyway. (Please try not to be upset by that, it's that everyone is right because everyone is wrong, so all opinions mean nothing.) That being said, when people are doing something that you decide is very, very wrong, having conviction can mean multiple things. It can mean standing up and butting in, helping those people understand what they are doing is wrong, or another thing it can mean is to know to not be involved at all and walk away. You are never alone (as we now understand) so there is no reason you cannot leave a party of people doing something that does not sit right with you. This, in almost every case, speaks far louder than had you opened your mouth. It also shows people what conviction is and what character looks like in true form, something more people nowadays need to experience.

7. Know when to stop.
This is the hardest part. Once you find something that brings you a slight and temporary bit of joy, you know as fish are with food, that you may never have it again, so in an attempt to be gluttonous, most people continue doing something even if it doesn't bring them joy anymore. Just like with cigarettes. Knowing when to stop, doesn't stop there though. It can go really, really deep, and into very uncomfortable places in common societies current heart states. It can mean parting ties with your spouse even if you have children, not for their sake, but your own (One day they'll understand, hopefully they wont have to). It can mean shutting down a company you've vested in for many years that's actually tanked a long time ago but you're just sure this next thing is going to be your big break. Knowing when to stop goes a whole other direction to though. It also means knowing when to stop being weak and go for it. It means being settled and content, but not at all complacent. 

Life is full of so much, so many, and so few and if you miss any of it, it was your choice and your choice alone. Maybe you'll say, but i am locked in a prison cell somewhere and I cant experience anything here :( You can close your eyes and see worlds beyond this one, let your heart love and your mind wander. There is a thing that we lost when television was created called imagination. There is nothing you can't do when armed with that. With these 7 steps, which don't have to be followed in any particular order but must be followed all at the same time all the time or it wont work, and by doing so you will no longer be in the pursuit of happiness.

You will be living it.

-J.Feelgood