April 12, 2005

• It's just about my favorite time of year.  The weather is perfect.  The day stretches out till seven thirty in the evening.  People are being loose about life, caring less about work and more about enjoying themselves.  I even played tag yesterday.  I played for about thirty minutes and creamed every single kid that took part in the game.  I don't know.  Maybe that's because the kids playing were about three feet tall and said things like "My toof! My toof fell out!"

  
  

  The overall symptom I obtain as a result of the spring fever would probably be that I develop this incredible way of annoying large numbers of people. 

  
  

  For one, I smile way too much.  If you saw me in the halls at any other point in the year, I'd probably be walking really fast, accidentally knocking people over with my unforgivingly huge bag and looking like I just witnessed the mass murder of a handful of innocent bunnies.  But now?  It's like the pollen in the air decided "You know what?  Today we won't stuff ourselves up Daryl's nose and make her die of a fatal allergy attack.  Today we'll pull the corners of her mouth up so that she looks like she's experiencing perpetuating happiness.  Hooray.  Hooray."

  
  

  Another thing about spring, for me, anyway, is that everything becomes personified.  Maybe it’s from the sunlight. Maybe the longer days.  All I know is that the flower over there is no longer just a flower….it is a flower with feelings.  Same with that blade of grass and that lamppost.  Honestly.  Any minute now I’m going to run outside, start whistling some Disney song, and instantly be surrounded by a bunch of sparkly woodland creatures pleading me to read them a mother goose nursery rhyme.  Then, I’ll change my name to Henrietta, shave off my eyebrows and re-draw them on the middle of my forehead, and talk to squirrels for the rest of my sick, sad, lonely life.

  
  

  Kidding, but I guess that could happen if I took a variety of illegal drugs.

  
  

  I honestly can’t point out exactly why I am so happy around springtime.  Probably because it is so close to summer.  And although I love the idea of experiencing two and a half whole months dedicated entirely to joy, it also bothers me in a way. 

  
  

  The thing about happiness is that many people tend to blame it on something else.  I’m happy because you’re happy.  I’m happy because the weather is terrific today.  I’m happy because I just went to the Eagles concert.  And just like people do it for happiness, they do it for other emotions as well.  That goddamned test ruined my day.  That stupid teacher embarrassed me.  You are pissing me off. 

  
  

  But for some reason, it is much less common to hear something like “Oh me?  I’m just plain happy.”

  
  

  And this may sound slightly cheesy, but what people don’t realize, or just don’t acknowledge, is that they are in control of their own emotions.  They are the ones that determine whether they are happy, sad, angry, embarrassed.  Yes, that’s right. Not the weather.  Not the Eagles concert.  Not that test.  If you are currently happier than you’ve ever been in your entire life, well guess whose fault that is?  Yours.  But I guess when you are a teenager it is much more difficult to grasp and gain control.

  
  

  In my old neighborhood, I used to go for a run a few times a week.  And as I jogged along, I began to notice a pattern in the buildings I passed.  Shop Rite.  Rita’s Water Ice.  Gas station.  Dunkin’ Donuts.  Starbucks. Deli. Dunkin’ Donuts.  Farmers’ Market.  Furniture Store. Dunkin’ Donuts.  My initial reaction was something along the lines of “Wow, there must be a lot of policemen living in this town.”  Then, just a few minutes ago, I decided to link it to something a teeny bit deeper.

  
  

  You see, Dunkin’ Donuts and happiness have more in common than one may suspect.  Yeah, sure.  The doughnuts pretty much rule.  As well as the beverages.  And, of course, the pimply anti-social high school dropouts that tend to work there.  But what really rules about Dunkin’ Donuts is its location. 

  
  

   

  
  

  If you haven’t noticed yet, Dunkin’ Donuts is well on its way to achieving world domination.

  
  

   

  
  

  And that, my friends, is how the two relate.  Just like Dunkin’ Donuts, happiness is everywhere.  Whether it is screaming to be visited or hiding inconspicuously behind the local grocery store, it is always somewhere. Just waiting patiently for you to finally realize it’s been around the entire time.  All you have to do is take matters into your own hands and recognize that your emotions belong to you.  And that is when you will be fully capable of not blaming the cause of your joy on some external force, but choosing to be happy on your own.  Because happiness has been there all along.  You might as well stop by and treat yourself.

  
  

   

  
  

  Just don’t get carried away.  If you dedicate your entire life to being happy, the only thing you will really get out of it is the desperate need for liposuction.  Happiness is important.  But it is just as important to experience negative feelings as well.  Like asparagus.

  
  

   

  
  

  P.S: This entry may sound slightly familiar to all Fernwood campers, so for that I apologize.  Also, I would like to recognize Katie Welling for being an amazing, compassionate person, one that we will are miss deeply. 

  • 10:00 pm
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