In a series of small, unrelated coincidences, I decided to take the ninja out for a motorcycle ride after having recently checked the valve clearances. I wanted to make sure that, unlike last time, I wouldn't start losing oil from the valve cover again. I've owned that bike for quite some time now (since 2006) and it's still one of my favorites. I took it easy at first, you know because if anything major is going to happen, it's best to happen at a speed that you can modestly walk away from. Once nothing fell off I picked up the pace a little, rolling on the throttle and feeling the pull of the motor as I listened for inconsistencies. We made our way out to the backroads; a series of long sweeping curves that weave their way through some foothills and out to a small man-made lake that I frequent as a thinking spot - you've probably seen pictures of it posted up in previous posts.
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| Me and the ZX: Happy Times! |
As we made our way out, I felt out the bike: the suspension feels a little off, probably because it is overdue for a fork service. I'll be doing the brake fluid soon too as I plan to replace the brake fluid reservoir, but otherwise the bike feels good. It helps that she is still quite a beauty as well. Most people who see it ask if it's a literbike and I have to humbly confess that she's a 636. It was good to be back out on the road with her and as I rode along at a modest pace, listening to the wail of her Sato full system, I cracked a little smile in my helmet as a squeal of happiness escaped my lips. This bike has carried me over tens of thousands of miles and every time I ride it, I feel happy... for the most part ha ha.
Which carries me into the main focus of this post: happiness, what is it?
I've been thinking about this one a lot lately as I work to resolve some uncertainty in my own life. I've already addressed the question of meaning, and many folks (myself included) would argue that a life with meaning is a life with happiness, so long as the person knows how to manage it... but what the hell does that mean, exactly?
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| Sometimes, happiness is ice cream on a hot day with a good friend... |
When I got home from my ride I plopped down in front of the computer and saw an article shared on FB penned by Russell Brand. Now normally I don't lay a lot of stake into these articles but the two people who shared it were somewhat reputable for sharing decent quality stuff so I took a gander at it. The title was pretty straight forward: "My Life Without Drugs" and it was a subject that I am pretty familiar with given my career path. I've worked with a lot of substance abusers in my time and I've become pretty familiar with the culture of substance abuse and the way society responds to the epidemic. The entire article was beautifully and eloquently written but one line in particular jumped out at me: "Drugs and alcohol are not my problem, reality is my problem, drugs and alcohol are my solution."
I read that line three times over and chewed on it for a bit in my brain. It made me consider an important aspect of this whole happiness thing that I've been putting so much thought into and it can best be illustrated by pointing out that in my time working with substance abusers and their families, I've always been intrigued by society's insensitivity to a very serious problem that plagues us all: reality (or: what causes substance abuse?). After all, as Brand says, drugs and alcohol are the solution to the pain of the reality that so many people are trying to escape. But you don't have to be a substance abuser to be an "addict" and you don't have to be a substance abuser to take an abusive or destructive solution to the problem of the reality you are trying to escape. Every day people who are unhappy go home and beat their wives or husbands, people who are unhappy in the marriages or relationships that they are in, cheat on their partners for a quick fix or an ongoing affair that takes them away from the pain of the life they've created (or willingly participate in). These behaviors perpetuate the cycle of unhappiness and create an even bigger painful reality for the victims who experience this abuse or betrayal and those people, in turn, react accordingly.
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| Sometimes happiness is a good cuddle with your best friend... |
Of course, reality isn't always bad, right? Every day we have moments of of happiness, of satisfaction, of euphoria and accomplishment, and all of the other great feelings that make life worth living. In fact, I would argue that reality is neither good or bad, it is everything. Reality is that there is love, happiness, destruction, despair, pain, laughter, indifference, boredom, anger, hate, tragedy, justice, injustice, inequality, victory, failure, loss, gain, and everything else you can think of but again I will say this; beneath it all, there is meaning. And when we are not taught to evaluate meaning in our lives, or learn how to problem solve or understand emotions then when bad things happen, we wind up with a society full of people who are emotionally incompetent, and subject to resorting to abuse and addiction as a method of escape; abuse or addiction of and to drugs, alcohol, sex, relationships (yes, that ever persistent need to have someone else in your life to validate you), adrenaline rushes, control, etc. As a result, we become driven by our ego and doomed create the very cruel realities that we seek to escape.
So what is the answer?
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