As you know I am blogging about the "Pursuit of Happiness" for these next few months, and in my last post, my dear family friend, Mrs. Julie Blankenship, posted a comment that touched my heart. Thus, I think that she deserves a shout out: two cheers for Mrs. Blankenship! If you haven't read her comment, then please give it a look, because I feel it defines the word "happiness" to a tee...in a really awesome song.
Now, in continuation with my theme, today I'm discussing the concept of "Beauty in the eye of the beholder"and how it ties in with pursuing happiness.
We are at the dawn of an interesting age in literature…I call it the Dark Age! Wait, that’s taken? ~Grumbling~ okay fine, how about ~drum roll~ the Cuddly Vampire Age! Okay, I know we've all had enough of the crazy vampire fans and the army of haters trying to get rid of them, but I wanted to open up a new perspective: Who really cares? I mean, if it makes people happy, then by all means let ‘em be. I’m not a fan of these books, such as Twilight, or other books that follow in this pattern.
In fact I used to be an extreme hater, I would go on and on about the death of real literature in today’s generation and the stupidity it spread and yada yada. Then I took this course in my with a very caustic professor. I will call him Professor X to respect his right to privacy, and before I continue, this is not a hate blog, I am just using my experience with him as an example for the point I'm trying to get across. I learned a great deal from this professor and I respect him as a person.
Professor X seems to most people who meet him or take his class a sour, cold-hearted man, who smiles only for a second and then it turns back into a permanent frown (which is actually quite a scary sight). He was a man who liked to go on and on about the idiocy he had to face with today’s college students, and seeing that the man is an excellent scholar, I can understand his opinion on today's generation since he knows what true literature really is and where to find it.
He held his opinion so high above his students, that no matter how much you tried, you could never be right or ever impress him. It was very difficult to learn and to be involved in his class, I mean it would be hard for anyone to learn when you're constantly told that you're a simpleton. This really backfired on Professor X especially when he would be trying to teach an important life message and no one wanted to listen due to all the belittlement.
I enjoyed his class and tried hard not to let my feelings get hurt, its college so you have to take the punches every now and then, but he would drive me insane when he would preach Buddhism in class. I’m a Christian, but I know several Buddhist followers. Professor X knows what Buddhism is, but he doesn't really know what it is to be a Buddhist, they are some of the most joyful people you will ever meet. My Buddhist friends are so at peace with life that they always feel blessed to be alive. They see the beauty in life's little miracles, where most would not, or are just too busy to notice these small wonders. Buddhists are like an antonym for the word "bitter".
He may be right about literature, and about a many other things, but he is not truly happy, which to me, is more important than being right.
That got me to thinking, who am I to take away someone else’s happiness? So what if they like Twilight and other novels like it. I may not think it’s a fantastic inspirational piece of literature, but that doesn't mean I should ruin it for those who read it and find joy among its pages!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or, in other words, another man's trash is another man's treasure. We have a right to freedom, speech, and religion, but we also have a right to happiness.
Wherever we get that happiness, we have a right to enjoy it.
If I were to continue on this way, I have a feeling I would be so swept up in my pretentious rampage that I would lose sight of books that once made me feel the same, not just books, but life’s joys as well! I would turn into Professor X!!!! But that doesn't mean I have to like them, I will never like Twilight, or any Nickolas Sparks book, but I should be nicer to those who do.
If I were to continue on this way, I have a feeling I would be so swept up in my pretentious rampage that I would lose sight of books that once made me feel the same, not just books, but life’s joys as well! I would turn into Professor X!!!! But that doesn't mean I have to like them, I will never like Twilight, or any Nickolas Sparks book, but I should be nicer to those who do.
I’m no saint however, I've got a long way to go when it comes to being nice about literature, but I’m glad I figured it out now rather than later. I want to be truly happy with my life when I come to my end -- I want to die knowing that I lived a good and happy life, I don’t want to die a harsh person with a frozen heart...or on an empty stomach, something about dying without one last good meal bothers me for some strange reason.
Anyways, the point I am trying to get across here is that the next time you see someone jumping up and down and squealing like a deranged chipmunk about a book, movie, etc. that you, with every fiber in your body, cannot stand, take a deep breath and try to be happy for that person.
Try it out and you might find that you feel happier too after its all said and done.
