Fortune Cookie #2
In physics, there’s a principle called the observer effect. The observer effect is the disturbance of an observed system by the act of observation. Simplified, the act of watching a thing changes the thing.
I’ve been watching my life for happiness and I’m seeing it. Not only around the next corner, but now, every day. It’s in the small things.
- I cannot adequately express how happy fall weather makes me. Snow in the mountains, rain in the valleys, sweaters in my wardrobe rotation. And the crisp, clear air? People, this is the best season. Hands down.
2. I listened to hours of Christmas music this week and felt great about it. The Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack is solid gold, I don’t care what time of year it is.
3. Jen and I had a good heart to heart, but the really important thing was that we completed a kitty puzzle while doing it. It had at least six kitties. Six!
4. On a recent afternoon, I looked out my office window and saw on the sidewalk below five young men in swimsuits (all in Speedos, except for one dude who must be more wise than his companions), covered in what looked like gold paint, cavorting about. It was absurd, surprising, super weird, and totally entertaining. Turns out, they were high school boys who had lost a bet. And they were covered in chunky peanut butter, not gold paint. Yes, I took pictures. You’re welcome.
5. I just used the word ‘cavort.’ How often is cavort just the right word for the thing you need to say?
6. My phone is always set on silent and vibrate. As I was working one morning, I got notifications in just the right timing and amount so that my phone vibrated “Shave and a haircut, two bits.”
So, yeah, you could say I’m swimming in happiness. (Better than chunky peanut butter…) And now that I’ve chronicled it, I see that my life is full of latent happiness potential. It just takes observation to activate it.
I’m going to start looking for wealth now, see how that turns out.
I’m curious. If you were to add to the list some happiness from your life in the past week, what would it be? Keep in mind, I’m not asking for mind-blowing stuff. Little, accumulated moments of joy are more reasonable and, I would argue, sustaining than big events. Comment below!
This post is part of the Fortune Cookies series, where I pick a fortune, see how it plays out in my life, and write about it. See other posts in the Fortune Cookie series here.