Happiness Is . . . . (a collective list)

This Happiness List was created during the week of April 9, in 4 different writing groups led by Zee Zahava (in the Tompkins County Public Library, The CAP ArtSpace, and in the Painted Parrot Writing Studio). Perhaps YOU will be inspired to write your own list of statements declaring what makes YOU happy!



Happiness is a big muscular hug and sloppy kiss on the cheek, unexpected, as I take out the compost

Happiness is the vibration in my body generated by a heavy purring of a cat on my chest

Happiness is the first swim in the sea in the early summer

Happiness is a room full of people dancing to my daughter’s fiddle playing

Happiness is using my last bit of energy to crest the hill on my bicycle in anticipation of coasting for miles

Happiness is watching my husband “trade hats” with the hat vendor on the street

Happiness is when the last guest leaves with marvelous memories

Happiness is a fully blossoming forsythia, the fragrance of lilacs, the delicacy of wild violets, and the blowsy, lazy beauty of peonies

Happiness is chocolate slowly melting down to the crunch of a surprise almond

Happiness is the front door opening at 5 p.m. as my beloved comes home

Happiness is the color and sweet taste of Cara Cara oranges

Happiness is when I don’t need to set my alarm clock before I go to sleep

Happiness is seeing a perfectly camouflaged squirrel only because it moved before it froze and disappeared again

Happiness is listening to a Schubert Symphony while I drive around the lake

Happiness is the smell of a clean dog

Happiness is the sight of daffodils over my dog, Minnie’s, grave — like she is still with me, saying hello

Happiness is baking a cake, without using a recipe, and it works

Happiness is finding an excellent movie to borrow from the public library

Happiness is taking off my muddy boots after a long walk

Happiness is saying “I love you”

Happiness is opening the mailbox and seeing a fat envelope from my sister

Happiness is seeing my tarragon plants sprouting through the snow that covered their pot

Happiness is having time in the morning to sit in my rocker, drink my coffee, and read a book

Happiness is feeling as though all the words I am looking for are flowing out of my pen

Happiness is getting the email notifying me that the books I requested are waiting for me at the library

Happiness is my closet full of black clothing that I imagine I’ll look stunning in (and yes, I am consumed by my appearance lately)

Happiness is being alone in my apartment, sitting on the love-seat, and talking to a trusted friend

Happiness is helping that friend through a difficult time in her life and knowing that I have done well

Happiness is when I get a surprise hug from someone I have admired and didn’t know they even knew I existed

Happiness is when I create a really delicious meal out of what I find in the fridge and the cupboards

Happiness is when I’m alone in the car and a beautiful orchestral piece comes on the radio and I can sing the parts I love best — at the top of my lungs

Happiness is an early morning email from my mother and all she sends is a string of purple heart emojis

Happiness is when I open the fridge and see so many excellent choices for dinner — all prepared by other people who cook much better than I do

Happiness is reading a murder mystery with just one really good murder in it

Happiness is the smell of fresh bread, and then the bite into a crusty loaf

Happiness is a library that used to be a Woolworths

Happiness is a modest ideal

Happiness is discovering that even burnt morning coffee can taste good

Happiness is wandering around with my camera and taking risks

Happiness is receiving a postcard, or a real letter, in the mailbox (that is otherwise full of bills)

Happiness is finally discovering what my cat was trying to tell me

Happiness is when a person asks me how I’ve been and I say, with a smile, “I’ve been great”

Happiness is having my dog rest his head in my lap

Happiness is having an argument with my lover that is so ridiculous that it ends in laughter

Happiness is a library card

Happiness is wood-stove heat in a snow storm

Happiness is waking up in a tent somewhere wild

Happiness is fresh figs

Happiness is having my love beside me when the day is done

Happiness is listening to other people tell (or read) their stories

Happiness is when you realize you’re almost finished with a job that seems to be endless

Happiness is the first spoonful of Irish Cream ice cream eaten out of the tub

Happiness is watching Cedar Waxwings get tipsy eating fermenting fruit still clinging to winter-bare branches

Happiness is feeling the smoothness of a round stone that I keep in my pocket

Happiness is waking up in a warm bed in a warm house with a roof over my head

Happiness is a group of kind and generous writers, sharing

Happiness is the first aconite blooming yellow on a dull winter hill

Happiness is people on a beach, assisting the release of rescued young seals

Happiness is kids and patience; love and compassion

Happiness is helping another human being on their journey

Happiness is kindness

Happiness is that feeling of relief when a knot in my stomach unties itself

Happiness is hugging a tree

Happiness is a heart-against-heart hug

Happiness is a shared laugh

Happiness is growing a beard

Happiness is the satisfaction of a job well done — self approval and self satisfaction

Happiness is falling into my bed and hearing my goodbye breathing

Happiness is singing with kids when they’re really into it (and grown-ups, too)

Happiness is waking up to breath

Happiness is texting old photographs to my kids, from their 7th grade album, and they both text back “cute”

Happiness is climbing into bed with something to read, after a day of much activity

Happiness is the hot wall of a sauna against my back when it is dank and chilly outside

Happiness is the endless possibilities of a week at the beach and four months to plan, and dream, and smile

Happiness is the sound of laughter from people I love, even if I don’t get the joke

Happiness is reading books to my grandchildren, one child tucked under each arm

Happiness is watching the trapped bird, now released, take flight into the evening sun

Happiness is finding a way to put it out of my mind

Happiness is stretching my legs after a long day of sitting

Happiness is the first whiff of lilacs in the spring

Happiness is being underwater and looking up at the sky

Happiness is sitting in a circle of rhythm and sound, words and harmonies, resonating souls

Happiness is the early bird songs of spring, offering promise of color and warmth to come

Happiness is walking, walking, walking, looking around, never stopping

Happiness is going away somewhere so different and exotic and then coming home

Happiness is looking forward to the next meal

Happiness is reading “Eloise” to a two-year-old and watching her concentrate so hard on the pictures

Happiness is when my favorite character survives

Happiness is when a chickadee visits the bird feeder while I’m filling it

Happiness is realizing that the great book I’m reading is part of a trilogy

Happiness is startling the woodchuck, so I can laugh at her wobbly run

Happiness is a quiet conversation with an old friend — comfortable as an old chair

Happiness is hearing a series of words put together in a fresh way, a phrase that has never before been written or spoken out loud

Happiness is taking a few minutes to be self-indulgent and self-pitying — some moments to wallow in the murky depths of bad memories and victimhood, and a sense of being put-upon — and then I snap out of it

Happiness is hearing a particularly delightful and sparkly laugh that I haven’t heard in a very long time

==


Thanks to all these wonderful contributors:
 
Barb Harrison
Barbara Anger
Barbara Kane Lewis
Christine Stockwell
Ellie Rogers
Edna Brown
Gabrielle Vehar
Heather Boob
Jean Wittman
Jerelynn Smith
Keyturah Moore
Larry Roberts
Leigh Stock
Linda Keeler
Lucy
Martha Frommelt
Marty Blue Waters
Mary Louise Church
Matthew McDonald
Nancy Osborn
Richie Holtz
Rob Sullivan
Ross Haarstad
Sara Robbins
Saskya van Nouhuys
Stacey Murphy
Sue Crowley
Susan Currie
Susan Ikenze
Susan Lesser 
Susanna Drbal
Yvonne Fisher