![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
"The sense of unhappiness is so much easier to convey than that of happiness. In misery we seem aware of our own existence, even though it may be in the form of a monstrous egotism: this pain of mine is individual, this nerve that winces belongs to me and to no other. But happiness annihilates us: we lose our identity."
-- Graham Greene
Take yer work seriously and yourself lightly, as the saying goes. Frankly I've always managed to get more done when I've been able to forget myself for a while. Happiness does lend itself to that. Also meditation. Also having some of the basics of Maslow's hierarchy addressed. Also alcohol, though less of the 'done' stuff happens that way.
You know, you hear of so many writers doing it tough that it's easy to assume you're *meant* to do it that way. Bring on more of the success stories, I say! Tell me about the cheery writers & the so-content-my-friends-can't-stand-me artists! Give me some happy endings, a la 'Sure, everybody died, but what *fun* it all was!'. Dorothy-Parker-meets-chocolate-cake kinda stories. Surely it's possible to be witty AND cheerful?
Eh. That paragraph was tiring.
All of which kinda links in a tangential way to another post that came through the RSS list today:
I happen to think that a winning personality is someone that is trusted, loved, and respected. To you, it may mean someone who is rich, charismatic, or successful. We won’t dwell on semantics during this post, and just stick to my initial definition. In order to have a winning personality, it is of utmost importance to have everyone’s best interest in mind.
(With the not-quite-so-appealing title, '10 Ways to be Perceived as a Winner!' ... Well, I guess it's all in the perception.)
(As an aside, I almost called this post 'Do I Look Happy in This?' -- but I worried people might actually start answering.)
I am awake too early today. That's the problem with being unemployed: it's actually nice to wake up (and this from someone who actually really *loved* her last job).
/rambling.
Comments
Whew! That's a lot of philosophisin' for a Monday morning.
(Also, waking up too early on a day off is great; you can choose to get up and start enjoying the day, or go back to sleep and get the pleasure of waking up again later; it's win-win!)
P.S. How was Cloverfield?
I completely agree (she said, in a selfless but ultimately indistinguishable way)! Well summarised. Certainly unhappiness allows us to dwell in the 'ego', whereas happiness enables us to be open to the world.
I think, too -- since the original musing on Crowley's blog is about the presentation of happiness/unhappiness in fiction (a fact I was too lazy to point out in my own haphazard post) -- that the nature of plot does confound the issue. To paraphrase one comment on Crowley's post: plot requires obstacle & challenge & other unsettling events, which are not conducive to the production or presentation of happiness.
>P.S. How was Cloverfield?<
I thoroughly enjoyed it! Apart from a few moments of feeling sea sick.