Happiness depends on ourselves. - Aristotle

I don't intend on going all philosophical about why I chose to use an Aristotle quote. And ultimately, it does depend on us to be happy. God gave us a free will, and we choose to be happy with what He's given us or where He's put us.

Anyhow, instead of blogging about what REALLY on my mind (because sometimes I do keep things to myself,) I'm going to think up everything that brings a smile to my face. Honestly, this was inspired by the Nutella and strawberries I'm snacking on.

In no particular order (more by train of thought):

Nutella
Strawberries
Not John Mayer
Sunny days with a high of 75 degrees (no relation to the Relient K song. Just a fact.)
Heavy rainstorms with incredible lightning.
Climbing on rocks at the beach.
Tide pools
Driving with the windows open.
Being snuggled in a corner (not creepy, honest.)
Watching movies in the dark.
Finding ordinary things hilarious at unexpected times.
Walking around cute downtowns and popping into random shops.
Newburyport
Having instant connections to people, even if we never get the chance to connect again.
Daisies
Sales at Old Navy that are actually sales. Not two dollar reductions.
Good movie previews.
Psychological thrillers.
Sticking with a book that starts out boring but ends up being fantastic.
The word Fantastic.
A good cup of coffee. Hot or iced. The kind that just makes everything right in the world for those moments that you're drinking it.
Sitting outside on the steps and doing nothing, regardless of weather.
The stars. Oh, how I love looking at stars.
Vincent Van Gogh.
The name James.
The name Isaac.
Watching something, a movie or play, that touches me to the point of just sitting with my hands covering my mouth, tears streaming, snot dripping, and the occassional sob.
Essentially having a good cry for a reson that is not something bad happening to me or someone I love.
Those moments when I realize, in the moment that it's happening, that God is answering a prayer or fulfilling a desire.
Finding wonderful things at Marshalls.
The idea of finishing my degree soon.
The idea of having my own coffee shop.
Brilliant villains in movies.
Batman
Christian Bale in general.
The hope of..well, getting what I want. But not as selfish as that sounds.
My blog.
The book of James.
The book of Ephesians.
The book of Philippians.
Colossians chapter 3.
The book of Romans.
The song Hey, Soul Sister by Train.
Frank Sinatra's voice. And his face. And everything about Frank Sinatra.
Attractive tall men (hey, it's just a fact.)
Boston. I love Boston so much.
The idea of getting to live in the North End one day.
Connolis.
Anberlin.
Michael Jackson.
Travelling by train.
Sally Field.
The Office.
Michael Scott.
Dwight from seasons 2-5.
Coffee mugs.
My gift of intuition.
Being able to say "I told you so."
I just like being right.
......

So, sometimes I try to look at things from possible perspectives of other people. Usually people who don't know me well and who I don't think like me very much. I pretend I'm them, and it's totally justified.

"Why does she say so much stuff?" "Why is she talking about a man she wants to marry?" "No one cares about her stupid container of Nutella."

Yeah, well. Then I think about why I write what I do. Here on my blog and on Facebook. Well, 1) They're mine and I can do whatever I want. 2) I don't have a lot of friends. I see one girlfriend consistently, and then I have some friends out in the boondocks of New Hampshire, one I've seen more than the other, and the other I haven't seen since I was in her wedding last year. It's like we're friends because we still love each other and haven't had some major falling out.

I'm not a big phone person (ask anyone), so writing openly here or on Facebook about small, insignificant things and slightly TMI kind of things like my previous blog post, is how I can share my life with people. We may not get to talk often, but they still know what's going on with me and we can pick up where we left off as it were when we DO talk on the phone or in person. Instead of it being like, "Well...two months ago this cool thing happened...but it's not cool anymore because I've talked about it so many times."

Also, I don't care what anyone else thinks. This is who I am. I'm a fairly shy person in public settings until I find my groove. Sometimes there isn't enough time for me to find my groove. But people can get a sense of who I am instead of thinking I'm a really shy person who can't stand being social. Which is true to a point, sometimes.

Anyway. I know not everyone judges me and I know it's totally egotistical to assume I have "haters", but I also know that some people DO judge me - people who have lives and a job to go to all day five days a week, and a car to drive wherever they want and lots of friends or a spouse to hang out with all the time. I don't. So belt up.

Yes, I just went British on you.