June 1: Grumpy People, Classic Saint Marty, New Cartoon

I am surrounded by grumpy people today.  The weather has turned rainy, and everyone is tired.  Crotchety even.  I suppose that's what happens when you add six young people to a household that's used to very sedate Sunday afternoons.  (I'm talking about my sister's kids.)  There's grumbling, arguing, and swearing.  Just a couple of minutes ago, voices were raised over a pile of old letters.  Summer has arrived.

Close families are wonderful things.  However, when my close family gets together, it only serves to highlight and accentuate our dysfunctions.  I love my mother, father, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews.  But they can create unnecessary stress.  At the moment, I'm thinking about either going for a walk or taking a nap.  Both options are coping strategies which provide escape.  Unfortunately, the escape is fleeting.  Eventually, I will have to return home or wake up.

Thus, I choose to deal with the situation in a more healthy manner:  complete ignorance.  I'm ignoring everything.  Going to my happy place.  It's wonderful.  The sky is blue, the afternoon is quiet, and a Nobel Prize diploma is hanging on my wall.

Today's edition of Classic Saint Marty originally aired two years ago on this date.

June 1, 2012:  All in His Best, Blithe Sounds, Choosing Happiness

He dressed himself "all in his best," and at last got out into the streets.  The people were by this time pouring forth, as he had seen them with the Ghost of Christmas Present; and walking with his hands behind him, Scrooge regarded everyone with a delighted smile.  He looked so irresistibly pleasant, in a word, that three or four good-humoured fellows said, "Good morning, Sir!  A Merry Christmas to you!"  And Scrooge said often, afterwards, that of all the blithe sounds he had ever heard, those were the blithest in his ears.

At the end of the novel, nothing has really changed in Scrooge's life.  He's still a businessman.  He still lives in the same moldy, old house.  He still works in the same offices.  His only living blood relative is still his nephew Fred.  He's still a wealthy man.  However, in 24 hours, he's gone from "bah humbug" to "Merry Christmas."  And the only thing that's really changed is Scrooge, himself.

Scrooge's entire mindset has altered.  Instead of seeing greed and stupidity in people, Scrooge now sees goodness and hope.  When he hears someone say "Merry Christmas," Scrooge no longer thinks of boiling the speaker in a vat of figgy pudding.  He welcomes the salutation as one of the blithest sounds he's ever heard.  Scrooge is choosing happiness.

And that's my wisdom for this morning.  A coworker just told me she got pulled over by a State Police trooper for speeding on her way to work.  That would have been enough to put me in a shitty mood for the rest of the day.  The State Trooper just gave my coworker a stern lecture and a warning.  My coworker said, "That guy was really nice.  I'm counting my blessings."  My coworker is choosing happiness.

I'm going to try to walk around in the world today "all in my best."  No bitching.  No catty remarks.  (Well, maybe a few.  I can't go completely cold turkey.)  No "bah humbugs" in any form.  I will greet life today with a smile.

Saint Marty will let you know how it works out for him.

This would make me blithe today

Confessions of Saint Marty

December 30: What I Have Learned

I have learned a great deal about Holden Caulfield this year.  Holden is funny and smart.  He's a good writer, and so is his brother.  Holden has good taste in books, but he has lousy taste in friends.  Holden's severely depressed and has been for quite some time.  And Holden loves his little sister, Phoebe.  He smokes too much, eats too little, and thinks anybody over the age of ten or eleven is a phonie.

The most significant thing I will take away from my Catcher year is that it's not a great book to read if you're struggling in any way.  There's very little that's uplifting in Salinger's novel.  The only time Holden is truly happy comes at the end of the narrative, right before we find out that he's in a hospital, recuperating from a mental breakdown.  Holden's sitting in the rain, watching his little sister ride the merry-go-round in Central Park.  And he's really happy.

It's a simple moment.  Nothing really significant has happened.  Holden hasn't figured out the meaning of life.  He's figured out very little, actually.  Yet, he has finally reached a state of bliss.

Happiness isn't something to hunt down and capture.  Happiness doesn't depend on the school you attend, the job you have, or the people you call friends.  Happiness is a choice.  Whether you're sitting on a beach in Hawaii or on a bench in Central Park during a rainstorm, you can be happy.

Saint Marty chooses to be happy this last day of 2013.

It takes a lot of practice

June 1: All in His Best, Blithe Sounds, Choosing Happiness

He dressed himself "all in his best," and at last got out into the streets.  The people were by this time pouring forth, as he had seen them with the Ghost of Christmas Present; and walking with his hands behind him, Scrooge regarded everyone with a delighted smile.  He looked so irresistibly pleasant, in a word, that three or four good-humoured fellows said, "Good morning, Sir!  A Merry Christmas to you!"  And Scrooge said often, afterwards, that of all the blithe sounds he had ever heard, those were the blithest in his ears.

At the end of the novel, nothing has really changed in Scrooge's life.  He's still a businessman.  He still lives in the same moldy, old house.  He still works in the same offices.  His only living blood relative is still his nephew Fred.  He's still a wealthy man.  However, in 24 hours, he's gone from "bah humbug" to "Merry Christmas."  And the only thing that's really changed is Scrooge, himself.

Scrooge's entire mindset has altered.  Instead of seeing greed and stupidity in people, Scrooge now sees goodness and hope.  When he hears someone say "Merry Christmas," Scrooge no longer thinks of boiling the speaker in a vat of figgy pudding.  He welcomes the salutation as one of the blithest sounds he's ever heard.  Scrooge is choosing happiness.

And that's my wisdom for this morning.  A coworker just told me she got pulled over by a State Police trooper for speeding on her way to work.  That would have been enough to put me in a shitty mood for the rest of the day.  The State Trooper just gave my coworker a stern lecture and a warning.  My coworker said, "That guy was really nice.  I'm counting my blessings."  My coworker is choosing happiness.

I'm going to try to walk around in the world today "all in my best."  No bitching.  No catty remarks.  (Well, maybe a few.  I can't go completely cold turkey.)  No "bah humbugs" in any form.  I will greet life today with a smile.

Saint Marty will let you know how it works out for him.

This would make me blithe today