First of all: This Is my first real post that isn’t an introductory one, yay! Hi Ho Silver and all that. Now, let’s get down to business, the bloggy business.
Over the last two to three years, I’ve often heard people speak about: “Finding your voice.” and how, as a writer, one needs to find the sound and style they wish to convey to the audience.
Easier said than done.
This logic suggests that I will slowly discover my voice as a writer, and consequentially, the voice of this blog. What’s the point of all this meandering about voice you might ask. Well, basically… I don’t have a voice for this blog yet, and as a result do not have a direct target to aim for now that I have started writing it. In other words: This Blog will find its own sound, its own voice, and its own style. For now, I’ll just put some words together and slowly draw the outline of what will eventually be the canvas of personality and style that is, my blog. Sound a bit cocky don’t I? My apologies.
Now that the bloggy business is out of the way, let’s get to the first (non-introductory) post for this Blog.
Yacht Happiness
Now, you may be asking yourself: Yacht happiness?
Yes. Yacht happiness. It’s exactly what it sounds like. The happiness you feel if you own a yacht, or more precisely, have vacations using that yacht. Let’s assume that somewhere in the world, Leonardo Dicaprio is sitting on a yacht. He takes a deep breath of refreshingly clean ocean air and smiles. He looks to his left and sees several super models talking about diets or something. He laughs.
Sounds pretty happy right? Yes, it does. That my friends, is yacht happiness.
Now let’s imagine that somewhere else in the world, there is a man named George. George likes potatoes, a lot. His favourite restaurant serves a particularly lovely roast potato meal. Every Sunday he drives there for this meal. One day, he finds out that they have removed it from the menu. He is devastated. A year goes by and he can hardly look at a potato without weeping. One night George decides that he needs to move on from his potato past. He drives to the restaurant to make amends with the chef who was responsible for the terrible crime of changing the menu. As he walks through the door, a familiar smell slaps him through the face. The roast potato special is back. George sheds tears of delight and joy. All is forgiven and no questions are asked once he has eaten his fifth plate.
Sounds pretty happy right? Yes, it does. That my friends, is potato happiness.
Now, my point. To put it bluntly, is that…
Yacht Happiness = Potato Happiness
You, the reader, have experienced both of these levels of joy at some stage in your life. To suggest that the happiness old Leo experiences on his yacht is somehow, better than the happiness George experienced when they brought back the potato special, is actually pure nonsense. Many people think that once they have more money, or once they have enough money to get that nice car, or nice house, it means that they will experience a new kind of happiness: yacht happiness. Now, let me not confuse you. You will experience happiness. That happiness will not however be a better brand of happiness compared to what you are used to. The sooner we realise this, the easier life becomes.
So whether your happy about your first cup of coffee in the morning, or happy about the fact that your fifth flat-screen TV didn’t break after you threw your Rolex at it. The happiness is the same. It is we who give happiness its own category, when it has none.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to eat a potato on my yacht.
Dylan
2015-06-17
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