Happy Times

Sometimes the universe just speaks to you. I've been so stressed lately - what with the goings on in my personal life, the economy, studying my butt off... I decided this morning that I was going to try to focus on the things that bring me pleasure and make me happy. And the New York Times decided, apparently, to do an article on Happiness. But Will It Make You Happy? focuses mainly on the relationship between consumer spending and happiness. Researchers have found that money, as the old saying goes, is not the route to happiness; rather, it is how we spend it. According to the article, people who spend their money on lots of material possessions (games, cars, clothes, etc) are not as happy as people who spend their money on experiences (trips, concerts, dining/drinking with friends). The simple conclusion is that social relationships are really the main source of human happiness, and having enough money to make memories with friends and family is the true joy of wealth.

The article describes the ways in which shopping CAN make you happy and how businesses are using that to boost their sales, but that was not what interested me. When thinking about the things that really make me happy, I found that it really was experiences with friends and family. And yes, I had to spend money to have those experiences - but it wasn't the spending that make me happy; it was the experience and the memory of it.

Things that have made me happy lately:

-Lilith Fair
I had been looking forward to going since I heard it was touring sometime back over the winter. My dad got "VIP" seats for Steve and me (which, at the Meadows... sorry COMCAST Theatre) means that you are close to the stage and can have waiters bring you drinks. Considering we didn't really have enough for many drinks, this was not really a benefit (the drinks are expensive as hell and now you have to tip, as well??). Thanks to Facebook, I realized some of my rugby friends were also at the concert - they were camped out on the lawn. So up to the lawn we went, and we spent the rest of the night enjoying ourselves (courtesy of the people whose blanket we took over - I can't BELIEVE they were so nice about it. I would have flipped...) with our friends in the cheap seats. We shared cigarettes and beer with the women behind us who let us sit on their blanket, sang loudly, danced inappropriately, and had a blast. The concert itself was awesome - we saw Sara Barelis, Ingrid Michaelson, Missy Higgins, The Indigo Girls, and Sarah Sarah McLachlan. The most amazing part to me was when all of the artists were together on stage to sing "Closer to Fine" (by the Indigo Girls). Seeing some of the originals from Lilth Fair in the nineties singing with the newer generation of artists they inspired was incredible. It was really like the older artists were passing the torch to the newer and it was a heartfelt and inspiring celebration of female musicians. It meant even more to be there with the people I love.

-Black Dog beach
My parents bought a beach house last summer in South Kingston, RI. (The house was actually mentioned in an article in RI Monthly. Pretty sweet.) That house is like a little slice of paradise. I love going down there on the weekends. My favorite memory up until this past weekend was definitely the rugby party we had during NERFU this past spring... but this weekend was pretty cool. Our neighbors have two beautiful black labs (Ollie and Ella) that love coming over to visit and play with our dogs. We have our own black lab, Guenivere (Gwennie, for short), a mastiff-lab mix, Merlin, and a toy poodle, Lily. All of them are black (except for Merlin, who has a beautiful brindle coat... but his fur is mostly black). At one point, I was throwing the ball for all of four of the big dogs. As Steve said, there were enough dogs on the beach that you could actually have said "Relase the hounds!". Seeing their little doggy gang having fun on the sand and on the surf really made me feel good. I love dogs - and our corner of the beach is like a giant dog park. People like to walk down the beach with their pups - and ours love to greet every passer-by. It's really cool.

Of course, RI also has the Ocean Mist. I LOVE going to the Ocean Mist on Sunday mornings for brunch. It feels so decadent to have a margarita at 9:00 (and you MUST get there by 9, or else there's no way you're getting a seat). I always get the Crab Benny (eggs benedict with crab) and the Georgia Peach and Sweet Vidalia Onion hot sauce. Getting to gorge and drink while watching the ocean crash right below us is one of my favorite things in the world to do.


I think the NYT article is spot on when they say it's the experiences you have that make purchases worth while.