Don’t feel guilty for taking care of yourself. This week of solitude before the crazy last full semester of my doctorate starts is just what I needed. I’ve gotten to sleep in, work on writing projects at my leisure, and just be alone with my thoughts without having to rush around and worry about when I am supposed to physically be somewhere and sound intelligent.
I finished a first draft of a children’s book as well as a cover letter. I’ll likely do more revisions before I send it off, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up just yet. We’ll see. I’ve also started writing scenes for a fantasy novel… a genre I’ve never been much interested in, and then I find myself re-reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. What a strange week I’ve had. School has always been fun for me, so maybe it’s no coincidence that I find myself reading about wizarding school before I embark on my last full semester ever of a student. I saw myself in Hermione right when the first book came out… and I still do.
Anyway, as for happiness, I recently saw a Facebook friend’s status that asked how to maintain happiness, to which I replied:
“I think trying to be happy is what keeps me from being happy. I have to let my emotions wash over me and honor them all.”
I’m not really sure where those wise words came from, but I should try better to live by them. I truly believe that humans are not meant to be continually happy. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. We are programmed to be able to experience many different emotions, even at the same time. So striving to remain always happy is like striving to stop time in a happy moment, it’s impossible unless you’re a wizard, and it kind of goes against nature too. Things are always in flux, and you can try to find happiness in each new moment.
Eternal Ocean of Words 