5-Letter Word for Joy

A finished crossword = happy.

 

Wordplay ("daily riser"-sun) = happy.
Done in pen = happy.
Favorite cookie as an answer = happy.
Only 3 mistakes = happy.
Learning new words:
3-letter word for "a little crazy"...fey
4-letter word for "breathing sound"...rale
4-letter word for "Plato's portico"...stoa = happy.
Enough quiet on a Sunday morning to complete a crossword in one sitting = happy.
Type A sustenance = happy.

When everything is up in the air and it feels like you don't know which way to go or how to respond to something when you're hurt, or how to respond when you've done hurting, knowing that there is one letter per box, with no gray area = just what I needed.

And this makes me happy.

Stars That Laugh

My. Favorite. Book.

Ever.

I decided with my free night void of grading (which is a happy post in and of itself), I would unpack some boxes...namely my books.  There's nothing lonelier than a bookshelf without books.

As I always do, I read through my favorite part of The Little Prince, all things "the rose."  I never tire reading of the tragic love affair between a rose too scared to love and a boy to young to know how.

Then of course I flip to the back and read my other favorite part, my namesake if you will.  It's almost as if "StarsThatLaf" is my alter ego.  The lover, dreamer, and innocent one to balance out the practical, grounded, and somewhat detached everyday version of me. This is the part I reread every time the book is in my hands.  Everytime I cry.  The little prince is leaving his friend, and by leaving, he is dying.  And these are the words he shares.

             "All men have stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers,  the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems... But all these stars are silent. You-You alone will have stars as no one else has them... In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night..You, only you, will have stars that can laugh! And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me... You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure... It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh." 
— The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry


Even as I reread it here I am moved.  I want to be the person who comforts those around me, even in disparaging times, and leaves them with a gift of happiness that endures along with the stars.  What a lovely way to live one's life.

Ironically, this quote ends up comforting me most times.  When I read it, I feel the presence of my sweet friend who has passed, but left me with millions of laughing stars.  And this makes me happy.

Mucho Michelada

beer. lime. salt. tapatio. Worscheshireshirehshireshires sauce. (you know you can't spell it or say it either)

This was the first drink at the first restaurant in Maui.  Every hour after that, we waited until we could go back for another one.  Which is pretty similar to how we still feel about Maui...waiting to go back for more.

But in the meantime, this picture, this drink makes me really happy.  And I fully recognize that this is the white girl version, with Stella Artois instead of Negro Modelo.

I've been waiting to make one here at home for myself because I fear it won't taste the same, and who wants to ruin a good thing, albeit perfect thing?  Perhaps the breeze, the water, the mahalo, the Kobe beef cheeseburger, and the sea turtles swimming right outside the restaurant made this michelada what it is...and that's something I want to hold on to.

For now, I have this picture.  And that makes me happy.

The first.

I know, this picture might not make most people happy, or sense for that matter:  two teas strapped into a Target cart.  But, why do I love this?

1) Iced tea on a hot summer day-amazing, like something out of a book.
2) Target-If you don't love Target you aren't American.  Where else can you spend $100 on nothing when you went in to buy floss?
3) Two teas=time with my bestie, which is priceless to me.
4) Can we not ignore the safety belt around our tea?  Why does this make me happy?  Because it represents my friendship with my bestie: silly, practical, refreshing, fun, and locked in.

Change

Break-ups stink.  It doesn't matter who wanted it.  They just do.  Break-ups used to be bad for me. Really bad.  I'm talking, nights-in-the-emergency-room-listening-to-Tracy-Chapman-on-repeat-anti-depressants-bad.  Luckily, I'm past the self-wallowing stage in my life.  I don't want to go there with this break-up.  I've made a conscious effort to not go there.  It hasn't always worked, but I'm proud of where I'm at.

Having said that, in an effort to maintain a sense of normalcy and happiness in my life, I'm focusing on things that make me happy.  The funny thing is, really small things make me happy, which is something I've always prided myself on (contrary to what past exes may say), and this little blog will be proof of that.

Perhaps focusing on all this happy around me will create happy inside me.  Very Buddhist of me, right?

Here goes nothin'...