Ah, this is not hapiness 
 

In the few free moments I get each day I like to leaf through the online edition of the Idler. Those happy few who lead a life of true leisure gather here and promote the way of idleness as the path to happiness. Until a few years ago I was one of them but now all the stops are out and every day is packed full of event and momentum. The Idler though always encourages me to rediscover my inner loafer and to spare some time for sitting and thinking (and sometimes just sitting).  

Their new web project based on a wonderful piece of Chinese writing called ‘Chin’s Thirty Three Happy Moments’ gave me the excuse to do just that. According to the İdler Chin Shengt’an (a 17th century playwright) once found himself stranded with a friend in a temple for ten days because of a rainstorm. While thus secluded, the pair compiled a list of the truly happy moments in life. What the list makes most obvious is the joy to be found in living in the moment rather than casting the mind forward in stressful explorations of what might come to pass. How we choose to percieve events also affects our happiness, 10% of happiness in life is what happens and 90% is our reaction to it. We are happy if we decide to be happy. 

I’ll write a few of my own but here are some of my favourite Chin moments;

3. I am sitting alone in an empty room and I am just getting annoyed at a little mouse at the head of my bed, and wondering what that little rustling sound signifies - what article of mine he is biting or what volume of my books he is eating up. While I am in this state of mind and don’t know what to do, I suddenly see a ferocious-looking cat, wagging its tail and staring with its wide-open eyes, as if it were looking at something. I hold my breath and wait a moment, keeping perfectly still, and suddenly with a little sound the mouse disappears like a whiff of wind. Ah, is this not happiness?

11. I wake up in the morning and seem to hear someone in the house sighing and saying that last night someone died. I immediately ask to find out who it is, and learn that it is the sharpest, most calculating fellow in town. Ah, is this not happiness?

21. A poor scholar comes to borrow money from me, but is shy about mentioning the topic, and so he allows the conversation to drift along on other topics. I see his uncomfortable situation, pull him aside to a place where we are alone and ask him how much he needs. Then I go inside and give him the sum and after having done this, I ask him: “Must you go immediately to settle this matter or can you stay awhile and have a drink with me?” Ah, is this not happiness?

28. To open the window and let a wasp out from the room. Ah, is this not happiness?

Here are some of my own;

1. I sink into the sofa and Sezgin lays his head on my lap, the baby is sleeping quietly and my favourite TV programme is about to start. Ah, is this not happiness?
2. I begin to read a book and find it extraodinarily good and flick to the end to see there are still 730 pages left. Ah, is this not happiness?
3. I listen to Melvyn Bragg and erudite scholars discuss heavyweight intellectual topics while occupying myself with a mindless game of solitaire. Ah, is this not happiness?
4. I invite thirty two friends to the great Zahir backgammon tournament and after six hours we are whittled down to the two finalists. I look round at those who previously had been fiercely competing now gathered peacefully to watch the last two and their faces are wreathed in smiles. Ah, is this not happiness?
5. I wake up in the morning and Sezgin has made my coffee and laid the table for breakfast, the smell of toast wafts into the bedroom. I eat dressed in my nightie before washing my face or brushing my teeth. Ah, is this not happiness?
6. I cycle down a hill on a sunny day picking up speed. My hair streams out behind me and the uncomfortable sweat on the back of my neck dries instantaneously. I am thrilled at how fast I am going. Ah, is this not happiness?
7. I participate in a step aerobics class and am moved almost to tears by the sight of thirty femals bodies, young and old, fat and thin, moving together in flawless harmony. Ah, is this not happiness?
8. I watch my sister get married and my heart swells as she makes a lifelong commitment to a man who İ know will enrich her life and bring her serenity. Ah, is this not happiness?
9. I see my mother on MSN messenger with my nephew Koray on her lap wipe away a tear as she sees her granddaughter on my lap. Ah, is this not happiness?
10. I walk into the forest above Çandir after the rain and smell the earth and disturb a hawk. It soars away from me, both of us are free to roam at will. Ah, is this not happiness?

Please send me your ‘Ah, is this not happiness?’ moments for a Toplum Postası follow up  (fazilez@hotmail.com) or for those of you unable to be happy I will eagerly await your similar but more tragic ‘Ah, is this not sadness?’ poignant moments. Put on your thinking hats and idle some time away, then take them off again and dash me off an email.