Hijacking a hijacked meme

[figmo]

Ganked from lrc as shown here:

The problem with LJ: we all think we are so close, we fill up our journals with amazingly inane drivel.

I want you to write a post that actually has meaning beyond the limits of your own personal issues. Write about something important, put some effort in, do a good job of it. When you are done, you should be proud of what you wrote.

Either that, or we can all continue the literary wankage and cyber-navalgazing that we've gotten so good at.

The Pursuit of Happiness (or "What's Illegal in North Carolina May Be The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of in North Dakota")

Happiness is important. The U.S. Declaration mentions "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We all strive for it; some of us even achieve it. It's also true that what makes one person happy can make another person miserable. Sometimes these traits dovetail in ying-yang fashion; other times they run counter to each other.

For example, there are folks who believe the only way to be happy is to worship their deity in their choice of religion. Clearly if this were the case we'd all be worshipping the same way, but we don't. Sexuality is another area where folks often want to impose their own viewpoints. Some folks think their way is the only way. Again, if this were true, we wouldn't have people with different styles of sexuality and fidelity.

Often we trade off one thing that makes us happy for another thing in hopes that it will make us happier. For example, we might work at a job we detest for 50-60 hours a week if it means we can live in a house that makes us happy. On the other end, we might work at a low-paying job for 40 hours a week or less if we value how we spend our work time more than where we spend our free time. The hardest thing for someone can be making the switch from the first scenario here to the second; the last thing anyone wants is to spend their work time doing something miserable that doesn't even pay enough for a decent place for them to spend their free time.

If you aren't feeling good about your life, change it. Figure out what you want out of life, then go get it.

Comments

[lrc.livejournal.com]

Exactly the sort of thing I had in mind. And coincidentally, it matches my philosophy exactly. I'm just struggling with whether I'm willing to work hard enough at what I enjoy to be happy.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

Darn it, I actually have some thoughts that have been rolling around in my head that I might be able to do something with if I had a spare hour or two. But it's already past my bedtime and I'm still not quite packed for Windycon tomorrow.

[kayshapero]

This doesn't entirely count because I'm not through with it yet - the final version is intended for my next week's apa L zine, though I'll probably also put it in my live journal. But what the heck.

As I said four years ago, the important lesson from the election isn't so much who won as how close the race was. At least this one gave an immediate answer, but given the snarl in Ohio much of this can be credited to Sen. Kerry being a gentleman. The country is still basically flipping a coin or looking for whomever they figure will do the least damage (I also suspect an element of future shock this time around.) Both the Democratic and the Republican parties have long outlived their prime and are increasingly irrelevant to the populace at large. We need to replace them, either with multiple smaller parties or with two new ones. Historically, the US has done the latter, but the most recent ones have gotten so thoroughly wedged in place that they won't budge. They can at most be modified by enough people with a strong agenda, which is what's been happening. Fixing this will not be easy. You cannot do it by starting at the top - with things so nearly balanced by people who fear the victory of the opposing party a weak showing accomplishes nothing and a strong standing not based solely on people who would otherwise have not voted at all (highly unlikely) will merely tip the advantage to the party whose platform least resembles yours. This is what happened to H. Ross Perot and Ralph Nader. New parties have to start locally and grow, not easy when existing parties suck up all the donations.

[aliza250.livejournal.com]

Often we trade off one thing that makes us happy for another thing in hopes that it will make us happier. [...] If you aren't feeling good about your life, change it. Figure out what you want out of life, then go get it.

Ah, but that's the easy part. The hard part is when a happy thing and an unhappy thing are closely linked together. It's a package deal - take it or leave it.

The tradeoffs can get complicated.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

I unfortunately know that all too well. In my case, it's a massive dip in income, and I'm merely buying time figuring out how to deal with it.

[madfilkentist]

Personally, I've never understood the notion of telling the whole world about my personal life. But having an uncontrollable urge to write, and lacking the patience to market my writing, I post regular rants on Blogspot (LiveJournal feed here), where I generally address issues I consider important, and which I put some effort into writing well. Whether I've succeeded is for each reader to judge.