September 2016
Page 33
Windsor Writers
I first encountered the concept of “the pursuit of happiness” in an
early lesson on the Declaration of Independence. I was only five
or six then, but still had enough depth of thought to wonder why
chasing after happiness was necessary when it was right there at the
kitchen table, under my bed or hanging from trees in my backyard.
Of course, I understood later that Thomas Jefferson only meant
that the pursuit of happiness is a right endowed by our creator, not
necessarily a job we must do as citizens.
A British novelist, Jeanette Winterson, captured my childhood
thought and explained it in a grown-up way. “Pursuing happiness,
and I did, and I still do, is not at all the same as being happy –
which I think is fleeting, dependent on circumstances... If the sun is
shining, stand in it – yes, yes, yes. Happy times are great, but happy
times pass – they have to because time passes...”
The Oxford dictionary defines happy as “a feeling or showing of
pleasure or contentment,” and happiness as “the state of being
happy.” Oxford obliges us with synonyms like cheerful, joyful,
carefree, untroubled, contented, smiling and beaming. We can be
satisfied, gratified, buoyant, joyous, blissful or euphoric. Happiness
can put us in seventh heaven, on cloud nine, walking on air and
happy as a clam.
Happiness is a very individual thing. Some folks are able to live a
devil-may-care existence full of exuberance and joy, without ever
On the Pursuit of Happiness
by Dennis Payton Knight
feeling a need to go off in a pursuit of what they already have.
More power to them, but most of us live an existence of a little
trouble here, a little laughter there, a sour apple here, a sweet one
there. We lose loved ones and loved ones come into our lives. For us,
the state of being happy is the process of picking the low hanging
fruit of happiness. We get enough of it without much pursuit, and so
it is easy for us to declare that happiness is a state of mind.
It is not so easy for others. Picture yourself in the grip of a deep,
chronic pain that exists only to remind you around the clock of your
situation, during sleep, during meals, during whatever activities you
can muster. It is hard, in depression, loneliness or pain, to reason
yourself into a state of happiness. And the more reasonable you
are, the more elusive happiness is.
That idea is expressed well by a contemporary American fiction
writer, Jonathan Safran Foer, who wrote, “I think and think and think.
I’ve thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never
once into it.”
And yet in your deepest state of blue, a kind word, even to yourself
from yourself, or a helpful gesture given by another, can bring you
joy for the moment. That is the lowest hanging fruit among all the
fruit of happiness, and I hope more of it falls your way.
I decided to change the wording of 'In Pursuit of Happiness' just a
little. I call it, 'The Pursuit of Hap.'
When I was a little boy, there was pursuit by my Mom with a
big stick because I had done something wrong. Usually a daily
occurrence. As I began to participate in sports, I found myself being
pursued while carrying a football by a 250-pound fat kid who
incredibly, could run faster than me!
A little older, I was pursued by the Draft Board to get me to register
for the draft at age 18. Then I was pursued by the U.S. Army to
get me into their ranks soon after age 18. Not long after, I was
frequently pursued by a Master Sergeant who needed someone to
The Pursuit of Hap
by Hap Hansen
do KP. For those of you unfamiliar with Army terminology, KP means
Kitchen Police. How one could be called Kitchen Police while peeling
a 50-pound sack of potatoes is beyond me!
Out of the Armed Forces and into college. My turn to pursue. A
fraternity brother had introduced me to a girl, Carolyn, whom he
knew in high school. A coffee date. One look at her and I was in
pursuit! Unfortunately, she did not seem too interested. After several
dates in pursuit, and what seemed like months, we sat down over
dinner for some serious conversation. I pursued and presented her
with an engagement ring with a diamond about the size of the head
of a pin. I worked up the courage to ask her to marry me. After
what seemed to be an interminable amount of time, she said, "Well,
I can either accept the ring, or have you arrested for stalking!" She
then accepted my proposal and my pursuit had paid off. At an
engagement party at her sorority, I drew her aside and asked if
she would tell my friends that she had pursued Hap! She laughed
and quietly said, "Do you want me to call the stalk cops?" We were
married several months later. We have three marvelous children and
seven equally marvelous grandchildren.
Carolyn died on Valentine's Day, 2014, from complications of
Alzheimer's disease. We had been married 57 years. But I am now
happy. My personal pursuit of a deeper appreciation of happiness
and a better knowledge of understanding will continue without her. I
know they will come. Perhaps tomorrow.
Theme: Pursuit of Happiness
The Pursuit
by Nancy Martz
The hunt
The chase
The presumptive race
To place tomorrow
Misreckons the sun
Who's out in front in rounds of tag
While we, in perpetuity, lag
Pursuing dreams
To brighten eyes
Which otherwise
Are dim.
