2012.01.05 19:00 – We are happy!

The Guardian for this meeting was Paradise Tennant.  Participants included stevenaia, Santoshima, and SophiaSharon,

Paradise Tennant: hello stev :) you look warm and cosy :)
stevenaia Michinaga: :) yes thanks, computer on my lap tonight, warms everything
stevenaia Michinaga: how are you?
Paradise Tennant: hmm getting cold here tonight ..think I may actually have put the heat on ;)_
stevenaia Michinaga: it's warming here for the weekend, but was very cold this week
Paradise Tennant: very well had the day off to spend with my brother and mom .. he has come and gone again on his way to cuba then south america :)
Paradise Tennant: then had a friend in for tea .. so it has flown by real quick
stevenaia Michinaga: work or vacation?
Paradise Tennant: vacation :)
stevenaia Michinaga: nice, I know others that have vacationed in Cuba
stevenaia Michinaga: most not from US
stevenaia Michinaga: one from SL
Paradise Tennant: smiles yes been there many times lovely people .. great music very good rum :) and wonderful accessible culture
stevenaia Michinaga: have you been there
Paradise Tennant: yes maybe four times
Paradise Tennant: all round the island
Paradise Tennant: cycled with my brother great cycling there good roads and no cars :)
Paradise Tennant: interesting like walking into a 1950s time capsule
stevenaia Michinaga: nice
Paradise Tennant: smiles hiya san :)
Paradise Tennant: how are you tonight ?
stevenaia Michinaga: hi San
Santoshima Resident: hiya stevenaia and Paradise :)
Santoshima Resident: very well, thanks
Santoshima Resident: you?
Paradise Tennant: smiles a little chilly at the moment temperature is falling
Santoshima Resident: snowing yet?
Paradise Tennant: yes a bit from what I can see
Santoshima Resident: please continue with hat you were talking about ...
Santoshima Resident: w
Paradise Tennant: hmm we were chatting about cuba but I was searching around for a topic to explore
Paradise Tennant: any ideas ?
stevenaia Michinaga: warming up the conversation
Paradise Tennant: hmm we could talk about being happy
Paradise Tennant: you were addressing it earlier stev
Paradise Tennant: liked the idea
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles, wonders if it's as simple as an affliction
Paradise Tennant: of exploring what is consists of how to access it regardless of circumstance :)
stevenaia Michinaga: something we get infected with, and I got it bad (or good)
stevenaia Michinaga: like many things, once you find it , it can be difficult to loose
Paradise Tennant: smiles
Paradise Tennant: so a state of being not contingent on circumstance?
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Stevenaia, Paradise and San :)
--BELL--
Paradise Tennant: hiya sophia
stevenaia Michinaga: hi SSL
Santoshima Resident: hello :)
Paradise Tennant: we were talking of happiness what it consists of . is it contingent on circumstance or just a state of mind .. that is acquired or one is blessed with
SophiaSharon Larnia: thank you :)
Paradise Tennant: stev is happy :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: grins :)
Santoshima Resident: very happy
SophiaSharon Larnia is happy to hear it
Paradise Tennant: my dog is happy .. I have the kielbasa out :)
Santoshima Resident: lucky hound
stevenaia Michinaga: cat is always happy too, It can be a proximity thing
stevenaia Michinaga: hard to explian your state or how you got there, one of those just "IS " things,
Paradise Tennant: I agree I think it is always there inside you available .. for the reaching for
SophiaSharon Larnia: what your expectations are can influence if you feel happy
stevenaia Michinaga: better to see it on others, see if it fits, I must have "found" the state through observation
Paradise Tennant: yes
stevenaia Michinaga: haha, no expectation makes you happy
SophiaSharon Larnia: smiles
Paradise Tennant: but making your happiness contingent on circumstance on a thing or a person or goal being achieved is not really that helpful
Paradise Tennant: smiles easier said than done
stevenaia Michinaga: perhaps it;s what is left when all else gets out of its way
Paradise Tennant: our natural state
stevenaia Michinaga: happiness emerges
Paradise Tennant: kind of like our baby state :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: :))
stevenaia Michinaga: nods, we are all born that way
stevenaia Michinaga: yes
Paradise Tennant: lol
Paradise Tennant: no grumpy babies?
stevenaia Michinaga: just a matter of seeing what "covered it up"
SophiaSharon Larnia: nods thoughtfully
stevenaia Michinaga: or not seeing it anymore
Paradise Tennant: so stev you think it is always there
Paradise Tennant: ?
stevenaia Michinaga: always was, too
stevenaia Michinaga: some just can’t get there from here
stevenaia Michinaga: to many "thing" get in the way
stevenaia Michinaga: things
Paradise Tennant: why
stevenaia Michinaga: why what?
stevenaia Michinaga: I would ask the unhappy that
Paradise Tennant: why do you think it is hard to be happy for some people ..
Paradise Tennant: hmm
Paradise Tennant: maybe they are happy and just don't know it ?
stevenaia Michinaga: ponders, if it lives deep in you, it may be hard to draw upon
Paradise Tennant: I remember as a child not understanding why grown ups were sad so much
stevenaia Michinaga: I think the thought of it shining through is apporpriate
Paradise Tennant: to me they had so much money in their pocket access to the candy store what was there not to be happy about ?
stevenaia Michinaga: suggest that things cover it
Paradise Tennant: so attachments
stevenaia Michinaga: candy may the key here, metaphorical and real candy
Paradise Tennant: we ignore the real the now .. and say I will be happy when ?
SophiaSharon Larnia: sometimes its biochemical but not for most I guess, sometimes its unmet expectations
stevenaia Michinaga: that’s the expectation that may keep you from being happy
Paradise Tennant: hmm think there is lots we do not understand about our chemistry
SophiaSharon Larnia: hmm
Paradise Tennant: maybe misery serves a purpose ?
stevenaia Michinaga: learning?
SophiaSharon Larnia: I think its something we learn as children, how to be happy, cntent
SophiaSharon Larnia: content
Paradise Tennant: you don't think you pop out of the womb ..thinking woe this is great I have thumbs :))
--BELL--
SophiaSharon Larnia: laughs
Paradise Tennant: I have been thinking alot about enoughness ...
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: can you say more?
Paradise Tennant: trying to grasp the full magnitude of the blessings that surround me .. .that makes me so happy sometimes I cry
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
SophiaSharon Larnia: *Para*
Paradise Tennant: I feel overwhelmed ..just to be healthy .. to be able to breathe without any struggle to be able to run up stairs ..
stevenaia Michinaga: does enoughness approach needing less or more
Paradise Tennant: letting go of needing
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
Santoshima Resident: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxS...artzberg-Grati
Paradise Tennant: recognizing .. everything you could possible need you have ..
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, acceptance of only needing what you have
SophiaSharon Larnia: thanks San
Santoshima Resident: ty, too ~ wonderful to hear you / read you
SophiaSharon Larnia: nothing is permanent. Fear can limit happiness
SophiaSharon Larnia: I spent dinner tonight surround by a large group, with 5 yelling, rowdy kids
SophiaSharon Larnia: it was so fun
stevenaia Michinaga: kids, your age ?
SophiaSharon Larnia: no, 9 month, 3, 3, 6 and 9
Paradise Tennant: thank you .. san ..
Paradise Tennant: hmm
Paradise Tennant: wonders if fear .. is meant to limit happiness ..
SophiaSharon Larnia: seem so naturally happy
SophiaSharon Larnia: probably not, would be my guess
Paradise Tennant: yes kids don't worry usually .. they are in the moment and they have not learned to be afraid
stevenaia Michinaga: or a stop on your journey to greater happiness
Santoshima Resident: :)
Paradise Tennant: do you think fear or mastering fear can lead to greater happiness .. stev ?
stevenaia Michinaga: mastering? more like no fear that supressing it
Paradise Tennant: so letting go or just not picking it up
stevenaia Michinaga: I remember a moment of great appriciation happened when I tolled my car upside down, lost control after hydroplaning
SophiaSharon Larnia: oh gosh Steve
stevenaia Michinaga: through the entire event there was no fear... cxcept for one moment when the roof crushed after the car stopped, thinking...
stevenaia Michinaga: after all that the roof below me is going to give way and trap me
--BELL--
stevenaia Michinaga: then I looked up at the floor... and wondered, ... my god its so clean... where did all the trash on my floor go
Santoshima Resident: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: huh> :))
Paradise Tennant: wow
stevenaia Michinaga: I thought, this is how you clean the floor of your car, flip t over (I toss so many coffee cupes and paper on my floor
Paradise Tennant: smiles
SophiaSharon Larnia: me too Steve, kinda sloppy :D
Santoshima Resident: :)) lololol
stevenaia Michinaga: I don;t recommend my method
SophiaSharon Larnia: no
Paradise Tennant: smiles
SophiaSharon Larnia: I hope this was not recent
Santoshima Resident: takes a strong disposition
SophiaSharon Larnia: and that you were ok
stevenaia Michinaga: but though all that, I walked away unscathed (car was totaled and I don;t think I even got an adrenalin rush, jsut sat and felt the gentle rain
Santoshima Resident: relaxed, like a cat
stevenaia Michinaga: perhaps
SophiaSharon Larnia: thats a walking definition of equanimity
SophiaSharon Larnia: sheesh
Paradise Tennant: did it feel like you knew what was going to happen that it would be ok ?
stevenaia Michinaga: then met someone who was driving mear house later in the evening so he took me home
stevenaia Michinaga: no, no expectation
stevenaia Michinaga: I was definately in the moment
Paradise Tennant: did you find it went in slow motion
stevenaia Michinaga: nods sliding sideways through a corn field, until the last moment when the wheels sunk into the soft wet soil and I flipped over
stevenaia Michinaga: all rather gentle
stevenaia Michinaga: not freightening at all, intil the roof went crunch... just a little
Paradise Tennant: smiles as accidents go a good one
stevenaia Michinaga: both a little freightened, like, what after all the the roof is coing to flatten me?
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, when no hard objects are involved
Paradise Tennant: some times moments like that drive home .. an appreciation for each and every moment
stevenaia Michinaga: some lessons teach you things, this one assured me that ... yes, you become appricative of what you have, even in the calmess of the extreme moments
Paradise Tennant: when you life is held in the balance
Paradise Tennant: find when I think about it all as one thing one big connected thing .. it is very hard not to be happy somehow
stevenaia Michinaga: next metaphor, does the sun shine on certain people. or do you have a way of missing the clouds that other see
Paradise Tennant: hmm i think we make our clouds and our sunshine ..
Paradise Tennant: my dad always stressed how important it was to think positiviely of others to see them and believe them to be the best they could be and invariably that is what he woudl draw out ..
--BELL--
Paradise Tennant: kind of like radiating sunshine and then seeing it bounce back at you ..
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
Paradise Tennant: we are little weather making machines :)
stevenaia Michinaga: or a little ball of sunshine
Paradise Tennant: just need to find our dials :)
stevenaia Michinaga: *sunshine
Paradise Tennant: a good storm can be nice change .. clears the air .. releases energy ..
SophiaSharon Larnia: the same sun shines on us all
Paradise Tennant: yes it does we are all the same stuff
stevenaia Michinaga: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKh0dLIuIu8
SophiaSharon Larnia: laughs
Paradise Tennant: perfect !
SophiaSharon Larnia: bye for now, be safe and happy :)
Paradise Tennant: nite nite sophia sweet dreams :)
Santoshima Resident: ciao, bella
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: bye SSL, careful where you step
Paradise Tennant: sunny dreams
SophiaSharon Larnia: ok thanks
Paradise Tennant: sigh .. enjoyed the links tonight :)
stevenaia Michinaga: time for me to take that to bed
stevenaia Michinaga: night
Paradise Tennant: yes me too .. still have a dog to bath :)
Santoshima Resident: g'night stev and Paradise
stevenaia Michinaga: night
Paradise Tennant: thank you my friends namaste :)

Just because this made me happy  - thought I would add a links that to me  exemplified  the  effortless happy  we were chatting of –combined with the voice of an angel J))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWNoiVrJDsE