by Ray Jason
It is a few dawns before Christmas in the year
2016. As someone who finds his
spirituality in the Cathedral of Nature, I note that today is the shortest day
of the year. Tomorrow the spheres will
align so that the light will increase and the darkness decrease. May we humans
one day also adjust ourselves to embrace the light and renounce the darkness.
And
it is in this spirit that I share this Christmas essay with you. My topic is one of the Really Big Ones – HAPPINESS. We all seek it – and yet so few of us attain
it. Because I am blessed in this regard,
I’d like to share that gift with you.
As you know from reading my essays,
I devote a lot of time and thought to what a friend disparagingly calls “The
Domain of Dread.” Consequently, those
who really know me are puzzled by how I remain so happy. Given the fact that I spend so much time
focused on the injustices and tragedies of this world, they find my
cheerfulness bewildering. My secret is
not some “answer” concocted from rainbows
and unicorns. It can actually be
achieved by simply changing one’s perspective.
Step back from the Human Voyage and what will you
witness? As daily existence has become
more and more ARTIFICIAL people have
become less and less happy. Almost
every anthropologist who lives amongst the 80 or so indigenous tribes that
still survive will tell you that these people are joyous. They have none of
the stuff of the suburbs but they also have none of the stress. Here are some of the ingredients that I blend
to make my personal happiness elixir.
THE ALL TOO
HUMAN… Definitely begin with less time in the human-built
world and more time in the natural world.
This is easier than one realizes.
It does not have to involve an expensive vacation to a National Park. Mother Nature is still there in even the most
brutalized urban settings. She is like
background noise that escapes one’s sensibilities because of the foreground
cacophony. Find a pleasant park or
wetland or creek and get to know the inhabitants – whether they are playing
checkers or wading for fish. Or bring
some Nature to yourself by growing a little garden – even if it is just in a
window box.
GET
OUTDOORS… Spend less time in big box supermarkets and more time
at Farmers’ Markets. Despite our
urbanized trend-line, we are still creatures of the savanna. We evolved in the Yellow Light (sunlight) but
we are clearly devolving in the Blue Light (screen light.) Spend more time with the Sky and less time
with the Screen. And the next time you
have one of “those devices” in your hands, pause for a moment and ask yourself
whether it is still just a convenience or whether it has become an
addiction. We don’t seek out addicts
when we are searching for the keys to Happiness.
VOLUNTARY
SIMPLICITY… The secret to achieving this life course
change is to recognize that simplicity is not a sacrifice – it is an emancipation! Look
at how much of our lives we dedicate to our TVs and to our cars. How many of us work meaningless, life-sapping
jobs in order to afford these inanimate machines. This misuse of time is particularly sad when
our children beg for our attention and instead we hand them the remote control.
So this is another easily achievable
step on the pathway to happiness. Just
throttle back on the STUFF!
*******
Now that I have laid out a few personal happiness
tactics, let me share with you some moments from the real life world that
brings me so much joy. Here in the
Archipelago of Bliss, I am often surrounded by Indio families who would be
considered “dirt poor” by any First World standard. And yet they are rich in laughter and
friendship and the fulfillment of their needs.
Here is a little photo album of some of these authentically happy
people. It is a little Christmas present
to all of my loyal readers. (You can click on these shots to enlarge them.)
This is a young boy who rowed over to sell me some
coconuts. Since coconut water, which I
call Tarzan Tea, is a favorite of mine, I happily bought a few. Then he tried to sell me a live chicken,
which you can see in the bottom of his tiny, hand-carved cayuco. When I pantomimed for him what a difficult
and comical arrangement this would be for both me AND the chicken, we both
laughed for three minutes. 
Here is an Indio family in from the out islands
visiting the local town so that the children could see the Christmas
lights. I read yesterday that the
average U.S. child will receive about $422 worth of Christmas presents. That would be a decade’s worth for these
kids, but I bet they are just as happy as the wealthy boys and girls in El
Norte.
Down here in the Banana Latitudes there are no yellow
school buses and expensive SUVs to shuttle the children to school. Instead, this photo depicts an older sister
rowing her younger sis to class. And
what makes their primitive cayuco even more wonderful is the fact that their
dad probably carved it especially for them.
And as the older sister paddles she is IN Nature – she is not air-conditioned
away from it.
I love this final photo. I spent an hour watching these barefoot kids
play “tag” through this maze of mangroves.
None of them got hurt. They never
argued. But they certainly laughed a
lot. The contrast between this and one
of those inflatable, bouncy, play modules that one sees so often up north, was
truly amazing and instructive.*******
Hopefully these reflections and remembrances will
bring some Joy to your holiday season.
But even more importantly, my wish is that my unusual way of viewing the
world, might help you realize that you do not have to get swept along in the
modern frenzy of speed and artificiality and stuff. There is “another
way.” And that road is far more
enriching and authentic and fulfilling than the express-way.
