There and Back Again, a Tale about Happiness

"'The time has come,' the Walrus said. 'To talk of many things: of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing wax -- of cabbages -- and kings -- and while the sea is boiling hot -- and whether pigs have wings.'" - "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll.

The time has come, my friends, to say goodbye, for this is my last blog posting.

The road to finding happiness is a long journey, and I don't think mine has ended quite yet. I believe that I have more pleasant surprises awaiting me just around the corner, and I hope that all of you have some coming your way as well.

I would now like to use this time to use some quotes to put a smile on all of your faces.

"A day without sunshine is like, you know, night." -- Steve Martin.

"We are all on this earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know." -- W. H. Auden.

"If love is the answer, could you please rephrase the question?" -- Lily Tomlin.

"Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone." -- Anthony Burgess.

"Be obscure clearly." -- E.B. White.

"There is no better feeling in the world than a warm pizza box on your lap." -- Kevin James.

"All the candy corn that was ever made was made in 1911." -- Lewis Black.

"Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close knit family in another city." -- George Burns.

"I intend to live forever. So far, so good." -- Steven Wright.

I hope that got a few chuckles, I know every single one of them got me to giggle, but that's also cause I'm Jane Morrell...and I'm silly.

I have enjoyed writing this blog, it has been an adventure within itself. I have grown so much within these past months, it is strange to think about how different I am now then I was when I started with my first post.

I would like to thank all my commenters for my blogs, that includes you too Kayak Girl.

For those who get the humor of the title of this posting, I give a smile and a wink.

And now I would like to say goodbye in person, so to speak:

The Good Old Days

Hey everyone! Happy Easter!

Do you guys know what time it is? It’s finals week! Yay! ...Yeah, I’m not excited either.

Now, I could do a blog about finals, how they are stressful, awful, etc., and I could talk about not letting anxiety of finals get to you, but I’m going to be honest with you guys -- finals are rough, and it does get tiring when you’re constantly having to listen to someone tell you to be positive during finals week.

So to save myself from getting annoyed glares, I’m going to blog about a quick and easy way to make one feel instantly happy: nostalgia.

Ah, the “good old days,” whether it was just yesterday or eons ago, we all have a time in our lives that puts an automatic smile on our faces every time we think about them or we are reminded of them.

Old TV shows, food, pictures, games, movies, books, etc. the little things that we hold on to and that we tie in our minds to a better time, an easier time.

And with finals, an easier time is what we need right now.

So these next few weeks, try and take some time out of studying (you guys better be studying!) and watch that old show, or play that old video game, for a few minutes and re-live that time of your life where you felt safe, confident and, most importantly, happy.

Just don’t go overboard because you might get stuck in trying to bring back the past. Nostalgia is a strong drug, and should only be used in small doses.

To go with my blog posting, I’m going to show you a few pictures of my most nostalgic moments so please don’t laugh, or at least don’t tell me that you laughed.

Laugh Your Cares Away!

Hi, everybody! Today I’m going to talk about one of the strongest medicines in the world: laughter.

I would like to credit the topic of today’s blog to my brother Matt Morrell. He will explain why laughter is so important for pursuing happiness:

Audrey Hepburn once said, “I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.”

Laughter can lift up a person from the lowest pits of despair and bring them out into the sunshine.

I think it’s the only medicine that doesn’t taste bad…but it might give you the hiccups.

When you or your fellow friend(s) are down, laughter is an easy way to bring back smiles, and the best part is, is that everybody wins!

Now I will be the first to admit, that sometimes a joke can go a bit too far at times, so just try to keep things simple and fun. You don’t want to offend anyone.

But sometimes, as ridiculous as the joke or the hilarious event, you can’t help but laugh…unless it’s when someone falls down - that’s just mean.

I know it’s hard to feel good when you’re sad, lonely, mad, or scared. Heck with all that has been happening with my life, all the drama and stress with finals coming up, the whole concept of laughing and being happy can seem like it’s out of reach.

You have to keep going, through all that silly drama and worrying. You’ve got to just laugh it off; I promise you that it will all be okay in the end.

However long it takes, eventually you will have a smile on your face again.


“If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane.” – Robert Frost