Who are you most inspired by?
A generosity of spirit gets my vote every time. Those who give a damn.
My fellow bloggers here on WP. I’m totally inspired by you and what you have to say and how you say it. There is a lot of talent on this my most favourite social platform.
I love folk who make a bit of an effort to be bright, to be upbeat. Those who give, even when life is a tad pear-shaped. Because when they do, we’ll notice and come together to support.
June, in England. It was the perfect drying day. Warm and breezy. Whilst I was sat thinking about stuff, I heard the unmistakable sound of splashing of water from the bird bath. I looked up, and there was a young blackbird living his best life.
At that moment, I was engulfed in happiness. The natural world in its beauty and innocence.
As some of you know/may have gathered, I become deeply disturbed looking at the big picture and the human madness that prevails.
By the same token, I appreciate its absolute beauty-which I am lucky enough to witness. Not everyone is for a multitude of sad/heartbreaking reasons.
And then I thought back to the DP we had recently, asking us about happiness.
I led the DP with Elon Musk. The richest man in the world. He had once commented on a quote about money not buying you happiness. He agreed and said they were right.
Of course, we all rolled our eyes, really, Mr Musk? You cannot be serious?
Imagine being superbly financially secure and stable, with not a shred of apprehension when a bill shows up. That surely equates to a shred of happiness. Even a little whisper of ‘ all is cool in that camp’ kinda thing.
Thinking deeper if you were born into wealth and were yourself a multimillionaire in your 20s, struggling to pay bills will never have been a thing. That part of your character would never have developed. So, I needed to rule that excuse out.
Then there’s is the fact that Elon Musk has revealed he is neurodivergent with Aspergers Syndrome. So is it possible he doesn’t recognise happiness within himself? I don’t know, I’m not qualified to suggest it’s so. But it could be, do you think?
It is documented that at the launch of his successful SpaceX rocket launches, he shows signs of excitement and satisfaction. Well, that’s a start!
Now, what if he used his wealth on Earth. To provide clean water for all?Currently, half of the world’s population still lacks safely managed sanitation. We are talking 3.4 billion people, and how many animals?
This man could do some good worthy of sainthood if he wanted – but could he cope with the messy social and political systems? Probably not, but he could pay someone handsomely to do so.
If Elon Musk could provide clean water for all worldwide, not only would he make billions of folk happy and healthy he would also restore our faith in human nature.
From his viewpoint, surely he would be rewarded with a sense of happiness, even if it was only fleetingly. Whilst the rest of the world rejoiced by this humanitarian for eternity.
Mr Musk, sir. I will be your Happiness Engineer. Let me show you the way.
What do you think, peeps?
What’s a common misconception people have about happiness?
Elon Musk says, ” Whoever said ‘ money can’t buy you happiness’, really knew what they were talking about.”
I say ‘ Boo hoo, Mr Musk’.
If having a stash of cash relieves you of’ money worries’, well, I’d say there some happiness to be found there. Surely?
Happiness isn’t something you can chase,is it? You can find it in the most unexpected places and situations. And it can find you.
Happiness can be a fleeting moment, a passing phase-something you feel at breakfast, but by midday it’s gone.
Happiness isn’t something that can be sustained, but when you recognise it, enjoy it and remember it. That way, you will be able to return to those memories with clarity.
What is something you wish you could tell your 20-year-old self?
I would be telling myself that things/moments/incidents/meetings/people/ judgement aren’t always as they seem.
To step back and look at the bigger picture-sorry to say this but ulterior motive is a thing.
Wait, listen, watch…
Just don’t believe everything that comes your way….
What’s a cultural tradition from another country that you wish existed in yours?
What are the biggest mistakes people make when visiting your country?
The month of May is by far the most beautiful time of the year to visit England.
People visiting at other times of the year are probably going to be disappointed.
Sure, we are having heatwaves, but when we aren’t, they can really expect a ‘four seasons in one day’ thing, going on.
During May, the hedgerows are fat and happy. The trees are green. The birds are active. The plants and flowers are glorious-simply at their best, and England has gotten warmer after a long, bleak, and grey winter.
Watching the lambs play is something else.
What’s a song that always puts you in a good mood?
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What’s a fear you’ve overcome — and how did you do it?
I fear Planet Earth will never recover from absolute abuse and neglect.
It’s not something to ‘ get over’.
What’s the best way to build self-confidence?
Someone in their wisdom said,’Be careful what you wish for‘.
And didn’t we hound the Happiness Engineers at WP to make our DP’s more interesting?
They are coming up with some beauts, now.
Crikey, confidence, that’s a biggy to get your head and words around, eh?
Confidence is something you can build, have knocked out of you, have it installed, loose it, regain it, or sadly never ever had it.
Seems kinda fluid, do you think? One minute you have it, the next minute you don’t.
I’m thinking we aren’t so keen on folk who are overconfident. But there again, that’s their problem and not ours.
So maybe it comes down to enjoying those personal moments where things click, we get it, and understand it.
How do you build loyal subscribers?
Good question.
I guess it is having people engage with our style of writing.
The beauty of WP is that we get to read about the lives of other writers. From different worlds or generations, faiths, or no faiths. Just a mish mash of folk who enjoy showing up and putting down thoughts, ideas, memories, fears and loathing, loves n likes.
About the likes, to me they are more about a tick, an acknowledgement of having stopped by and read your stuff. Instead of the voyeurs, the ghosts who view, but leave without a nod.
Building up subscribers is good fun, a little reward for doing our best and peeps saying ‘ yes, I see you’.
As ever thank you to the very lovely June at https://fancyingfrance.com for being my first ever subscriber
IN THE BOOMER PIGEON HOLE? 
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