To a friend.

     Is it possible to be happy in a moment without the need to chase the moment and capture it endlessly?  Is it even necessary?  It is okay to relish in a moment, allow its warmth to pass over you—through you—at and the end be alone in the memory of the moment.  We capture fireflies in jars so we can enjoy their splendor, but too soon they die and we are left with sadness that they are gone when if we had just had the magical encounter we would have the memories of its wonderfulness.

     If we live our lives purely by emotion we run the risk of needlessly hurting ourselves.  Emotion without mindfulness is just as bad as a man who thinks too much and never “follows his heart.”  Both can lead to missed opportunities, or regrets with choices that have been made.  Chemically it is true that the flame that burns hottest burns fastest, but such flames quickly run out of fuel—or else get so out of control that they destroy everything around them.  Passion is just as dangerous as it is wonderful.

     This completely ignores a more cynical approach wherein happiness is just neurons firing and chemicals bonding.  With what measure to we protect this notion that happiness can be eternal?  Much as a stone cast into a pond will create a great cloud of mud that obscures vision and frightens the fish so too does a fiery encounter that leaves one speechless with wonder.  It is far better to allow the pond to settle to inspect the stone—to see if it was worth the great commotion that was caused.

     By no means am I saying that passion has no part in life.  Merely, allowing ones passions to consume their essence is a frightful thing.  A wheel is such a simple device, pure in its design.  How efficient is the wheel if it is oblong?  Square?  Triangular?  As the design becomes less, well, rounded, it loses its ability to function as it should.  Zeal is the type of emotion that is best used for, well, rushing ahead and getting lost in the woods of emotion and then the job is finding yourself in that forest.

     So to that I ultimately say sometimes it is best to allow an emotion to wash over you without washing you away with it, to stay anchored and yet enjoy the emotion for what it is.  A zoo is a poor replacement for the wilds.

--JJM