Have Your Cake, and Give the World a Slice Too

I’d like to write about happiness.

Because it seems that many people are confused about this emotion.

It’s not “cool” to be happy.

Many people would have you think that being depressed is in style.

Happiness can be seen as something that you just happen upon,

like a treasure easily lost,

And in some cases that’s true. You might find happiness in a person

or an event, a place, a note, a flower;

but these are finite joys.

These are all little glimpses, little tastes of chocolate frosting, or whatever kind of frosting you like, but to find the whole cake, you can’t look for something outside of yourself for happiness.

You are the delicious chocolate[insert favorite dessert here] cake. You have all of the ingredients of happiness inside of you, but still, these are only ingredients.

You have to do the baking yourself.

And no store bought cake is gonna cut it.

It is very easy to believe that your well being is reliant on your outside circumstances and conditions.

If this was the case,

there would be no hope, no love, no happiness, and no progress.

Because the world around us is merely the manifestation of our own expectations. What we expect to find in the world, we often find.

Whether that be hatred, lust, fear.

These are all readily accessible ingredients.

The tricky part is finding it in ourselves to look for what is good and adding to that goodness.

Sure, the world can be messed up,

but how does it get that way?

The world is populated by people. People who think, know, act, and react.

It is not the world’s problem,

but it is the individual’s responsibility to share happiness,

to share love,

to share joy,

to share everything good.

We have to share our chocolate cake, and teach people how to bake theirs.

We can’t rely on outside sources, on store bought cakes, to give us what we are missing.

We must learn to be happy in ourselves, and to express that in the world.

And maybe not immediately,

and maybe not every time,

but, the world will begin to reflect this back in your life.

In your family’s life,

in your community’s life,

and in this rippling effect, the world’s experience will continue to brighten.

But you have to make that decision,

brave the fiery oven,

mix the ingredients until they run together,

and produce something beautiful for yourself and the world,

and produce something that will keep giving.

That’s what poetry is capable of.

It shows you what there is to be grateful for;

it shows you the beauty, light, and happiness in yourself.

It brings the people of the world to their knees in the wisdom it embodies.

In its simplicity, there is great truth.

Happiness is already there inside of you, gasping to be expressed

by poetry,

by music,

by good deeds,

by self expressions.

Happiness yearns to be shared.

So, make your cake, and share a slice with your neighbor,

and maybe even teach them how to make their own too.