When looking through a kaleidoscope, child-like fascination is reignited. Mundane commodities, plain landscapes, average experiences and your homely girlfriend’s face all suddenly explode in color, beauty and dynamicism. That child’s toy restores an ability many of us seem to loose with age: the ability to look at the world with fascination and awe. It can completely alter our visual perception, making things we see as boring become a completely stimulating mind-fuck.
I agree with the Dali Lama in believing happiness is the ultimate goal of our existence, but if you hold a different agenda, chances are happiness shows up somewhere, even if it is in an alternative form such as crack or world domination. But, unlike the latter variations, true happiness must be cultivated from within. Whether we want it to be or not, it is a personal responsibility and relies on the ability of positive perception.
The story of suffering and despair resonates with all of us in some form: evil wizards murdered our parents in the night, our mother is an alcoholic stripper or a serial ax murderer chopped up all of our friends. And I do want to challenge you to not let those times pass without finding the positive aspect all the motivational phrases say lies beneath, but it seems it is not necessarily the large travesties that make people the most unhappy.
Some of the most seemingly unhappy people I know have not been tortured, disfigured or imprisoned by anybody or anything other than their own mind, which I will agree, at times, can seem unbearable.
It is your mind’s perception that can lead to the unhappiest of states. Those times in life where you don’t experience anything extraordinarily bad, you just can’t seem to find anything extraordinary. Stuck in a lull where futures seem bleak, insecurities run high and the good days have become defined by finding half a sandwich wedged between couch cushions. It is these times that are often the hardest to escape because there is not one event to pin point, one occurrence to handle.
We are forced to confront our entire viewpoint; maybe you have been seeing the glass as half-empty, maybe you have been seeing the glass as totally empty, or maybe you have been seeing the glass shattered on the floor, spoiled milk everywhere and shards lodged in your foot. It is at these times of indefinable unhappiness that we need to pull out that kaleidoscope and radically change the way we are seeing things.
Yes, I have copyrighted this kaleidoscope method and it is totally legitimate, supported by very influential therapists that are kind of a big deal. And of course I have oversimplified it. Obviously, it is not this easy. I am not even sure if it is possible, but if it gives us a shot, let us raise our kaleidoscopes.
Personally, I abhor the mediocre, thriving off the extreme highs and even preferring extreme lows to an apathetic state, but not necessarily in the typical or overly destructive sense. Prone to disappointment and the emotional repercussions of over-hype, I began to find my extremes elsewhere, turning my kaleidoscope to the average occurrence: free samples, cake, four hours of Jon Stewart on DVR, a jolly wandering man with Tourette’s and a fanny pack.
I guess you could criticize me for settling for lower pleasures in life or even disregard my words as those of someone easily pleased, but it doesn’t get you anywhere. Many of us use mental superiority as an excuse, but cut the shit. Bliss is not only reserved for the ignorant. With knowledge comes power, the power to achieve a greater, more sustainable level of happiness, and on that I am still working. But for now I shall eat cake, play with my kaleidoscope and try to be merry.
