Tag Archives: society

But, are you Happy?

The ever-elusive quest for happiness. Western society programs us to yearn for external stuff to be happy. When we have approval from others, that new computer game, the bigger house,… then we’ll be happy. Or so we think.

I grew up in a generation where moms actually did say, “Eat your broccoli, there are kids starving in Biafra”. Guilt management of children and eating their vegetables aside, they had a point. In a backhanded, control freak sort of way, they were also trying to teach us about gratitude.

If traveling the world (particularly Asia and South America) has shown me anything, it is that poverty exists on a scale that I did not previously comprehend as an adult, let alone at age 7. There are multitudes in the world who yearn for the simple basics: Food, potable water, adequate shelter.

Always striving for “bigger, better, faster” on which to build our house of happiness, in fact dooms us to eternal unhappiness. We build on shifting sand. When we reach a solid place of feeling internal wholeness and peace without any of the add-ons (“Would you like to upgrade your fast food today?”), then true, sustainable happiness is possible.

Happiness is a state of mind, and a choice, at any given moment. It’s not a destination.

The road to happiness. How do YOU define it?

As with love, our happiness expands when we remove the conditions we attach to it. “I’ll be happy when…” Happiness is a decision to see life in a certain way, with the realization that every moment of it is a gift.

Are you living your true heart’s desire? We are encouraged and conditioned in life to make logical decisions for our happiness. We are strongly influenced in the decision-making by people close to us. The problem is, they likely have also been programmed by society to believe happiness is a certain thing or way of being.

Listen to your heart, and then temper what it says with your logic and the wisdom you have already accumulated. If what your heart says still feels right, then follow it. Too many people only figure this out much later in life, and some never do at all.

Give yourself the gift of your heart’s desire as young as you are able. Live the life that will make you happy, not the one your peers or parents or society deems to be acceptable. It’s YOUR life. Make it a happy one!

Happy

True, real, enduring,
happiness is being at
peace with who you are.

Parts of this post are excerpts from Soul Journey: The Poetry of Life, and Becoming Bigger: In a world that wants to keep you small. They are free. Find my free ebooks here.

I love the pure sweetness of spring. Everything starts over again. Fresh. The Spring Solstice has always felt like the real New Year to me.

My post yesterday on Humanity’s Future: How Much Do You Question (anything)

It’s All About Love

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Letter to Humanity

On the winding path of life we’re here to learn,
that love’s greatest lessons are not be be spurned.

Be faithful and true first of all to yourself,
but don’t leave your heart sitting on a back shelf.

Go bravely in the world, embrace what you see –
Life is a soul school for All humanity.

Love is the compass to navigate our way,
a world full of friendship needs no special day.

The challenge, you see, is to each do our part!
To heal the world, we must all live from the heart.

How Do I Love Thee Better?

Renowned romantic,
Romeo confessed his
love for fair Juliet,
impassioned locution
of sweet young love,
innocence unspoiled.

“How do I love thee?”

A query so complex
the Greeks declared,
“To best understand,
we must divide what
is immeasurable into
quantifiable boxes.

Ludus for flirting,
Eros for passion,
Pragma for partner,
Philia for friendship,
Storge for family,
Agape for humanity.”

A very worthy list
to be sure, and
though incomplete
does beg the question,
“With so much love,
who has time to hate?”

Eternal mystery,
our soul’s mission
often shrouded by
many false starts,
the next question
haunts us forever,

“How do I love thee better?”

Romeo, winking, says,
“You just have no fear!
Strive to love to the
depth, breadth, and height
your heart can reach.
True love is boundless.”

Continuum

The love that we give
ripples outward and swells in
the Infinite heart.

Is there someone in your life who needs an “I Love You” message right now? This ecard from my sunflowers series is free to save and share. 🙂

Today’s poems are selections from my free ebooks Humanity’s Lament: Poetry for Our Times, and Soul Journey: The Poetry of Life. Read them online, or download and save for a rainy day.

© Susan L Hart 2025

Embracing Our Origins

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“We need the tonic of wildness…At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.” (Henry David Thoreau)

Just as Thoreau apparently did, I feel very connected to nature and the Earth. How about you? If I had my druthers, I would spend the rest of my days exploring her wild places.

I also love the below quote by Edward Abbey, notable American author and essayist. I do believe when we connect to nature, we feel the pulse of our origins. We somehow got this idea that taller buildings and more technology define us as more civilized. I would tend to disagree… It feels to me like society is becoming more uncivilized by the minute.

When we reconnect to the Earth and respect her in a way that she deserves to be cherished, it will be a big step towards creating a healthier, more fulfilled and truly civilized society.

The haiku Blink is an excerpt from my tribute to nature, Our Beautiful Earth, now in its 2nd Edition

Wishing you a beautiful weekend, bright with happy things. 🙂 Now I must bid you adieu, because Izzy and I have some gardening to do.

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My post Tuesday on HumanitysFuture.net: The Mass Dream: Whose dream is it?

The Journey & Your Worth

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Do you realize your true worth in the world? Experience and learning, love, and the people in your life are the gold. Your soul is the gold. YOU are the gold.

We live in a world that prays to the almighty money god. For many people abundance means having loads of it in the bank, so that they can buy any THING they want. Money = happiness, or so they think. But is this true abundance? What have you invested in today that would still be with you tomorrow if your money disappeared overnight?

At the end of your life, in your soul’s journey and looking back from your deathbed, the things you accumulated will mean nothing. They will be simply material objects that accompanied you on your journey through life.

The Trip

We arrive
with no luggage
and leave with
none too,
so why do we
spend a lifetime
accumulating
mere things?

To prop up
our egos,
and relieve
our boredom,
to salve our
hurts, and
impress the
neighbors.

Within the
glorious potential
of the soul’s
quest, we lay
waste to what
could have been
for the next
new toy.

The kids
fight over the
treasures
left behind
by their parents,
thinking that the
having is some
kind of victory.

But the wounds
inflicted in the
fight for more
are baggage of
a different kind,
ones that can
cross over if we
don’t take care.

Traveling light
and loving well
are the real
accomplishments,
and as big as
they are, they
pack small
for the leaving.

Excerpts from Becoming Bigger: In a world that wants to keep you small, and Soul Journey: The Poetry of Life. Both are free to download at the links.

Thank you for reading. 🙂