Ever Elusive Happiness
Janet Kuypers
1/17/24
When I was young, the world seemed
the size of a thimble, and all I ever wanted
was in my own backyard. But on my own,
I suddenly became a dot in the Universe... So,
search for the key to solving this world’s puzzle.
—
After trying to climb one of the Alps
in the snow wearing socks and sandals,
I went to a nearby mountain to spend
20 minutes in its radon-filled cave
to try to gain my strength again.
After being stared at by men in India for being
a tall Western woman not dressed like a Muslim,
I petted cows on the street before I retreated
to their iron-rich, human feces-filled
Bay of Bengal, just to get my feet wet.
When a man in the 3rd poorest country
in the world was asked why the poor locals
seemed so happy, he explained.
We may not have it all, but we can
choose to be happy. And so we do.
This is the battle every dot in the Universe faces:
no matter where we go, no matter what
atrocities accost us, where is that damned key
to that ever-elusive happiness. Is it in a place,
or do we first find it deep within.
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