It was brought to my attention that today is "International Happiness Day".
I'm sorry, but is that just vile or what? I find it perfectly stomach-turning. I am aware of the fact that this is meant as something better than what it sounds – apparently, the idea behind it is to remind us about the right for the pursuit of happiness that so many in the world are so sadly lacking (and I don't mean us poor things whose internet connection is occasionally sluggish – while that is a downright outrage and drives me into fits of verbal violence aimed at the cosmic unfairness of it all). But still. International. Happiness. Day. Pass me the bucket, please.
Happiness is either overrated, too aggressively marketed or just badly defined. In fact, it's likely it is a combination of all of the above. I mean, how can anyone with an inkling of the actualised shitness-potential of the world and life in it reasonably be expected to be happy? Famine. Genocide. Preventable illnesses killing children due to the greed of, well, let's face it, people like me. War. Torture. The list goes on. Anxiety. Lots of anxiety. The sure and certain fact that all those you love will suffer and die and you cannot do shit to stop that. The fact that you yourself cannot get out of this life without having to see it through (you know what I mean? That's a really, really bad one). Jolly jolly merry happy, la-di-fucking-la, I'm singing in the rain and a smile is glued upon my face. Have a nice day. Don't worry be happy.
(aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Scuse me.)
I mean really. We all want rather not to have hunger, pain, anxiety, all that. We all crave pleasure, passion, love, all that. But still. International Happiness Day. I ask you.
I was actually thinking about writing today to note that [overly jolly] fact that today is Spring Equinox, and that whilst the weather here arrived directly from Siberia, there will now officially be more light than darkness for the next six months. Which should be a good thing (although people often get more depressed when that finally happens, did you know that? The suicide count of this country is always highest in spring). Happily, I was saved from being that happiness-spreading prat. Phew. A close save if ever there was one.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Whatever you do, don't force me to be happy, please
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4 comments:
Quite a mixture: Happiness Day, Spring, and the high suicide rate.
I am out of sorts when the seasons change, although not so this year, because I had real changes in my life, not manufactured nonsense one feels forced to observe.
I think it is the artificiality of Happiness Days, and even of Spring Equinoxes - because that spot on the horizon where the sun rises means squat to me - that drives us to desperation.
Life itself is quite a mixture, don't you find, sweet Montag?
But yes, artificiality is enough to drive anyone to distraction and desperate acts. The Equinoxes, though (apart from being fantastic words), do have some meaning for us near-Arctic folk. The darkness of winter is phenomenal. And long. Light returning does mean something – although sometimes, it means that people are finally pushed over the brink of their personal capacities for coping. But I'm with you in the fact that whether The Actual Day is today, last Thursday, a week Tuesday…none of that really matters.
Hang on a minute, perhaps we should start celebrating International Artificiality Day? That might just be a hit with cranky old bods like thee and me, my friend Montag.
I hear you with regard to how the real changes make evident the nonsense of manufactured ones. And yet once upon a time, dates to be observed annually must have been a good thing, a way to mark the passage of life. Who knows.
Good things to you, Montag, now as the cruellest month begins.
x
How about "International Ironic Artifice Day"?
The irony would be in the fact that we would force people to only celebrate it if they were "spontaneous".
I'm in favour of this plan, Montag. Now it is merely the case of choosing the date and going public with it.
x
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