Writing and the Cessation of Suffering

Been reading about happiness and what makes people happy. Habits of happy people. Positive psychology stuff.

Etc.

I hardly think you need to be Freud to deduce I read a lot about happiness because I am not in a happy place. I'm not unhappy or depressed. I would say, at times, I cope with normal, situational sadness leading to a sometimes depressed mood. Life transitions are stressful. I think I read somewhere that divorce is the most stressful life transition. Knowing that, by the way, did not help to reduce my own stress.

There are things in my life that bring me happiness. My boys chief among them (except for when they are driving me crazy...newsflash, twin toddler sons are hard fucking work). Audiobooks (big audible.com fan), coffee, good movies, and writing also come to mind.

What I wrote yesterday about cultivating life balance and time to write holds true for happiness as well. I like to think of it more as—to borrow from Buddhism—the cessation of sorrow (a.k.a. dukkha...not to be confused with Count Dooku).

I do believe writing can help alleviate negative emotions, even traumatic experiences. I don't have time to post sources, but writing and stress used to be a research area of mine. So I actually know writing can have therapeutic value.

On the other hand, in striving to implement a daily writing habit and turn that it into a lifestyle—and hopefully a career—not being happy can be a hindrance to that endeavor.

I came across that  Jack Kerouak quote (via Advice to Writers) from his popular list of Writing Essentials that re-reminded me of this:

"Be in love with yr life/ Be a crazy dumbsaint of the mind...Write what you want bottomless from the bottom of the mind/ Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition"

Cultivating happiness and being in love with my life, regardless of my life circumstance, will help me to persevere with my daily wiring habit, writing goals, and aspirations.

I also want to recognize that a depressed mood is not a bad thing in itself. It is a normal human emotion. It can fuel good and more honest fiction. I am not going to be an always happy moron (like that annoying, overly upbeat girl from office space).

Rather, by recognizing my emotions, good or bad, I can move past them and use them to develop a more consistently positive attitude.

I think.