Happiness.
Happiness. What is it, really? At freedomainradio.com, there is a video podcast entitled "Happiness, pt.1." Stefan Molyneux says that happiness is derived from living a moral, honest, self-actualized life, and appreciating the people that are part of that.
Happiness is not "stuff," nor is it money...it's being honest with yourself in your life. So I've been thinking more about this (arg, she's thinking again!). Am I being honest if I don't have my name on this blog? Am I missing out on deeper happiness by not identifying myself?
I've never put my name on this blog for two main reasons. My first reason was that when I started writing this, I lived in a small town that was prone to violent reprisals against outsider non-Mormons that were critical of anything going on there in any way. I didn't want to put my property, my dog, or my business at risk of unnecessary idiocy (dog killings were a common manner in which to settle perceived slights in Escalante). The second reason I didn't want to attach my name to this blog was that I owned a business that relied heavily on people that were more liberal than conservative, and this blog is undoubtedly more conservative than liberal (although, ironically, in the Southwest my beliefs are considered more liberal).
So am I less happy because I have not honestly identified myself here, in this e-place? I've been nothing but honest here. This blog is a complete testament to the human being that I am--the good, the bad, the weird. I am a modern transcendentalist, a freedom and liberty lover, and a believer in the lessons that being in nature can teach you.
Everything here is me. If you are scared of me, or don't agree with some of the things I've written, then I haven't lost anything by not identifying myself in a more open manner here. Now, let's say I had put my name on this, that everyone in the whole wide world knew that "DFSLD LFRVN" wrote this funny, weird blog and talked about her thoughts and the world, and her perception of it. And let's say that, for the sake of a more interesting argument, that my boss is really, really liberal, and maybe petty enough to, let's say, look for other reasons to let me go from my job, but that the real reason was because I wrote this blog and it was easily identifiable. It may be a far-fetched scenario, but these days, not really. What favor would I have done for myself by honestly putting my full legal name here?
I would have done no favors for myself by doing that. I am not a public person, per se, with the exception of the blog here. I am not on TV. I am not trying to get people to look at me, follow me, read me, or any of the above. This blog is not monetized. It is just the outpouring of writing that I do because I love to write, and I am not bad at it.
People may draw all kinds of conclusions by my writing. But since my name is not on it, I've not lost anything by sharing this with strangers who have not yet met me, and perhaps never will. My friends and my family are the only people that read this regularly, and they know me well and love me anyway. My relationship to them is non-negotiable. We love each other for who we are, differences and common ground alike. In that manner, I have lived, and continue to communicate, in the most open and honest way that it possible. When you read something that is written, you are literally in that person's mind as you read their words. In that regard, if true happiness is derived from living and communicating your personal truth, I should be the happiest person on the planet! I have been writing this blog for five years and have ranted, raved, bitched, moaned, complimented, loved, and self-realized via my words the current events, people, places, politics, economics, religion, and state of the planet through the filter that is my soul.
I am very proud of my writing, too. Sometimes I go searching for an old entry I wrote, and I get lost reading other stuff in my blog because it's interesting and entertaining. I've been exceedingly honest here, and that makes me very happy.
I've considered seriously, at other times in the past, about putting my name on this blog because I am proud of it in a certain way. But I always end up deciding against doing it because I am a paranoid person at times, and I would be worried all the time about what people thought about me, and I would wonder if people treated me a certain way because of something I wrote last week. That would not make me a more happy person...I would be miserable and possibly living a personal hell.
I'm not hiding anything. I don't have dangerous, extremist, violent tendencies (unless thinking that people having more freedom is considered extremist). My family is not necessarily worried for me, or think I'm too crazy (a little crazy, maybe). I am all that can be read in this blog, and of course, even more than that in person. But I am who I am, and I have realized that I cannot "go there" and put my real, whole name here. I just can't. Is it being dishonest? Perhaps some people think so. But it doesn't make me any less happy.
Go check out some of the podcasts at Freedomainradio.com. You may not agree fully with Stefan, but you will be entertained, and intrigued.
Happiness is not "stuff," nor is it money...it's being honest with yourself in your life. So I've been thinking more about this (arg, she's thinking again!). Am I being honest if I don't have my name on this blog? Am I missing out on deeper happiness by not identifying myself?
I've never put my name on this blog for two main reasons. My first reason was that when I started writing this, I lived in a small town that was prone to violent reprisals against outsider non-Mormons that were critical of anything going on there in any way. I didn't want to put my property, my dog, or my business at risk of unnecessary idiocy (dog killings were a common manner in which to settle perceived slights in Escalante). The second reason I didn't want to attach my name to this blog was that I owned a business that relied heavily on people that were more liberal than conservative, and this blog is undoubtedly more conservative than liberal (although, ironically, in the Southwest my beliefs are considered more liberal).
So am I less happy because I have not honestly identified myself here, in this e-place? I've been nothing but honest here. This blog is a complete testament to the human being that I am--the good, the bad, the weird. I am a modern transcendentalist, a freedom and liberty lover, and a believer in the lessons that being in nature can teach you.
Everything here is me. If you are scared of me, or don't agree with some of the things I've written, then I haven't lost anything by not identifying myself in a more open manner here. Now, let's say I had put my name on this, that everyone in the whole wide world knew that "DFSLD LFRVN" wrote this funny, weird blog and talked about her thoughts and the world, and her perception of it. And let's say that, for the sake of a more interesting argument, that my boss is really, really liberal, and maybe petty enough to, let's say, look for other reasons to let me go from my job, but that the real reason was because I wrote this blog and it was easily identifiable. It may be a far-fetched scenario, but these days, not really. What favor would I have done for myself by honestly putting my full legal name here?
I would have done no favors for myself by doing that. I am not a public person, per se, with the exception of the blog here. I am not on TV. I am not trying to get people to look at me, follow me, read me, or any of the above. This blog is not monetized. It is just the outpouring of writing that I do because I love to write, and I am not bad at it.
People may draw all kinds of conclusions by my writing. But since my name is not on it, I've not lost anything by sharing this with strangers who have not yet met me, and perhaps never will. My friends and my family are the only people that read this regularly, and they know me well and love me anyway. My relationship to them is non-negotiable. We love each other for who we are, differences and common ground alike. In that manner, I have lived, and continue to communicate, in the most open and honest way that it possible. When you read something that is written, you are literally in that person's mind as you read their words. In that regard, if true happiness is derived from living and communicating your personal truth, I should be the happiest person on the planet! I have been writing this blog for five years and have ranted, raved, bitched, moaned, complimented, loved, and self-realized via my words the current events, people, places, politics, economics, religion, and state of the planet through the filter that is my soul.
I am very proud of my writing, too. Sometimes I go searching for an old entry I wrote, and I get lost reading other stuff in my blog because it's interesting and entertaining. I've been exceedingly honest here, and that makes me very happy.
I've considered seriously, at other times in the past, about putting my name on this blog because I am proud of it in a certain way. But I always end up deciding against doing it because I am a paranoid person at times, and I would be worried all the time about what people thought about me, and I would wonder if people treated me a certain way because of something I wrote last week. That would not make me a more happy person...I would be miserable and possibly living a personal hell.
I'm not hiding anything. I don't have dangerous, extremist, violent tendencies (unless thinking that people having more freedom is considered extremist). My family is not necessarily worried for me, or think I'm too crazy (a little crazy, maybe). I am all that can be read in this blog, and of course, even more than that in person. But I am who I am, and I have realized that I cannot "go there" and put my real, whole name here. I just can't. Is it being dishonest? Perhaps some people think so. But it doesn't make me any less happy.
Go check out some of the podcasts at Freedomainradio.com. You may not agree fully with Stefan, but you will be entertained, and intrigued.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home