Things to be happy about.

Wednesday 21 August 2013



When buying preowned books I always look for the previous owner's comments somewhere on margins of the pages. 14,000 things to be happy about, which I bought few years ago for like 5$ on ebay, is no exception. Overall, I bought it in a pretty good condition , but some of the things mentioned in the book were underlined, some even a few times, but then thoroughly, angrily perhaps, covered with pen. I did my best to read them anyway. The one bearing most marks is "Avoiding people who make you feel guilty." Double underlined, then crossed out, multiple times.

It's been laying on my shelf for quite a long time, but I still have a soft spot for that book. I thought I would take a brief look into it again and tell you some of my faves among those 14,000 things one should be happy about.

the feel of rug under bare feet, tall people, chew face or smash mouth (kiss), eating all your snacks before the movie even starts, seeing old people holding hands, food that means love, that vacation feeling, taking a walk when the world is too much, looking back on the past with as much pleasure as you get from looking forward to the future, carrying cups of coffee out to the porch to enjoy the morning sunshine, just one day of looking terrific, showing a child how much fun life can be, a whisper impossible to resist (underlined two times), reading outside on a blanket wearing a big sweater in the autumn sun, nocturnal drinking expeditions, remembering people's names long after they've forgotten yours, making colored chalk drawings on the pavement, our lives being what our thoughts make them, lessening the impact of a horror movie by filtering it through one's fingers, getting what you want and what you need at the same time, carrying 10 books home from the library, being taken to the zoo, ancient ruins, surviving a summer job, shooting a whole roll of film in one day, controlling the largest empire on the Monopoly board, writing poetry that no one will see, blouses with Peter Pan collars, sitting down and really thinking out an attitude of yours that you are not sure of, talking to yourself, the Greek alphabet: alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, omega, and my favourite (you know I could go on the whole day) the sound of sneakers squeaking against the floor during basketball games.

Why is that my fave? Probably because of how silly it even sounds, no one would ever think that this is something worth being happy about, but now I know. I love that sound, I really do. It reminds me of the times when I used to play, it reminds me of some teenage drama series, of achieving something like the best player of the game title, of being wild and a fighter. Never before had I though that hearing that sound made me happy, but now it truly does and I often hear it in my head.

These are just a few examples. Honestly, it's impossible to read the whole book at once, I come back to it from time to time, pick a random page and even more random line and see what's hiding there for me. Some of the things listed are pretty doable, or shall I say, easy to get to experience, others pose more symbolical associations. You can find a bunch of meals, cities, sayings, slogans, song or movie titles among the pages. Some are personal, some universal. Wouldn't it be amazing to try to capture some of those "things" on film?

"Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have."




Thank you so much for all the beautiful words you've said under the previous post, using that new Helios lens is a real blast, it really makes magic happen and I am so so glad you share this opinion! Thanks for all that positive feedback! ♥

21 comments:

  1. Wow, what a treasure it is to get a book with so much character!

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    1. You're so right! I've found 3 different types of markings in that one copy! It was so nice to see what makes other people happy, it felt so intimate :)

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  2. It's so important to be able to let little things bring you happiness - i think this act in itself, is one thing to be happy about. :)

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  3. I would add one thing "I'm happy to have u in my life :) "

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  4. haha I love "controlling the largest empire on the Monopoly board: - so true :-P

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    1. the whole book is just filled with things that make you go all "SO TRUE" every minute <3

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  5. This sounds like an absolute golden find! I live when I have those moments when the smallest little things make me happy and you realise that you don't need the whole world in your feet to be truly happy, even if it's just for a moment. So I'm adding your lovely post to the things that made me happy today!

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    1. Lovely to read it, M! I definitely have those little moments as well and sometimes it gives you so much to just stop for a minute and realise there is so many great things you should be happy about each day! I saw you were back home, enjoy yourself there, love!!! :)

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  6. Going to try to get a copy of this book.
    Your post made me happy ;)

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    1. You definitely should! I'm actually thinking of passing along this one copy I own, so someone else can experience the magic :))

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  7. optymistyczny post.bardzo.czytając kawałki tej ksiązki w Twoich słowach śmiem twierdzić,że musi być wyjątkowa.na pewno.

    pozdrawiam!

    m.

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    1. bardzo dziękuję! książka rzeczywiście jest wyjątkowa, głównie dlatego, że poprzez te podreślenia i inne takie, poprzedny właściciel zostawił w niej cząstkę siebie. polecam kupowanie używanych książek!

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  8. Thank you. <3
    And thank you for writing something about this book.
    This seems to be the perfect book for me. :)

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  9. I need to get my hands on this book! And a pre owned one, that would make it all the better! :')

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    1. Yes! Get a preowned one! It will make reading even better if you do find some additional marks on it :)

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  10. What a great blog you have! Love this post - so many happy things. You certainly have a way with the camera! x

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  11. that seems to be a lovely book. i should get a copy! the first photo is so wonderful!!

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    1. it is lovely indeed, such a happy book to have around during bad times. thank you, Catarina! <3

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  12. Oh great. The cover is so simple but looks pretty amazing that way.

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© Dipped in Rococo ~ lifestyle in analog Maira Gall.