What is happiness? When I wonder this, I think about those Charles Schulz comics wherein he would say "Happiness is..." followed by things like "a hug from a friend" or "a warm blanket". He was really on to something that my little kid mind clamped down on. Happiness lies in a moment: a fleeting, non-perpetual state. I learned that lesson from him, and I am working on re-learning it for Penelope's sake.
Penelope has been singing songs lately. She made up a song to the suitcase in our bedroom that is mostly babble, but the refrain of it is "going going going". She also has been singing a song we call the happy song which simply goes, "happy happy happy (phoooooo)" The phooo part is her blowing. It took me a couple of times of hearing this before I finally realized she was trying to sing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles! This is major because she's not a big cake fan or anything, so this little happy song is just about happiness, togetherness, the emotion, the moment, and anticipation. She sings it whenever she has a quiet little happy moment with her Dad or I. I think it's beautiful and sums up our life.
We should all have a happy song. Something we sing to remind us that yeah, life is tough but in this moment I feel joy. Something to make us really embrace and share that joy with those around us. Then maybe in the rough times we could ride it out, listening to our happy song in our head.
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