The Pursuit of Happyness, Day 155

A friend of mine really wanted us to watch The Pursuit of Happyness before I left for England but we only ended up watching the first little bit. I finally sat down to watch it with my aunts last week and was so moved.

I loved it so much because one of the messages that I took from it was that you can achieve anything if you work hard, even if there are (and there will be) obstacles along the way. I could relate to this message because I approach life with this same attitude.

But does the pursuit of happiness ever end? We live in a world where the subconscious definition of happiness that we are fed everyday can never really be achieved: we cannot all be famous, we cannot all be millionaires, we will never look or have bodies like the airbrushed models in magazines, our lives will never be as perfect as they are in the movies.

The Pursuit of Happyness got me thinking about what being happy means to me. If for a moment we could tare ourselves away from the materialistic, unattainable things that we are led to believe will make us happy, I think that we'd all realize it's the simple things in life that make us feel more fulfilled than the things society tell us will. The sad thing is, this is more easily said than done.

The simple things that make me happy
(sorry, it's long. I get a bit carried away with these sorts of lists):

summer days, the sound of my camera's shutter, spending hours lying on a beach doing nothing, passing a Starbucks, the smell of honeysuckle, hugs, the sound of cicadas, avocados, when a complete stranger smiles at me on the subway, the name Lola, my bed, Harriet, Olivia making me laugh until my stomach hurts, summertime thunderstorms, watching John Mayer/Adele perform live, my high school darkroom, Nylon Magazine, white sheets, the colour purple, serendipitous moments, The Notebook, packing a suitcase, Lola's Cupcakes, salad from "Lettuce", bike rides, tea, new bottles of shampoo, finding beauty somewhere I'd least expect to find it, white t-shirts, dancing in my kitchen, books that make me cry......the list goes on and on.