Day #1 : 10 Things That Makes Me Happy (PART 1)

Greetings, random lurker of the dark alleys of world wide web, I welcome thee.

I was tempted to revive this dormant blog after I read my friend Aulia's challenge post. If you happen to be (somehow) enlightened/entertained/experience any kind of positive influence from this post, please go check her post here and thank her.

Considering so many negative things happen -globally, locally, and personally-  it is necessary to remember things that makes me happy. But, good gracious, who would think that it would be so hard? Well, for me, at least. Of course, there are a lot of things/moments that induced some sort of positive affect within me, but was that really happiness? Did I genuinely feel it or did I just trick myself into feeling it because I think I should? Was it counted as happiness only if I am aware of it when it happened, or is it okay if I realized it in retrospect?

What is happiness, really?

Well, I decided not to overthink it further and just wrote down things/moments that would pick my mood up every time I was stuck in the dark valley of anxiety/insecurity. They worked their charm by diverting me from my anxiety or giving me hope that I will somehow overcome my difficulties.

I would really love to write something noble like world peace or eradication of poverty, but I will stick to things that have been happened/was present. Things that I know by experience would make me "happy" instead of things that I expect would make me happy.

Enough conceptualizing and operationalizing, now on to the actual list of things that makes me happy...

1. Cheese.

My Dutch cheese-purists friends would snort when they read it. After all, I could not even explain what "mature cheese" is, and I only consumed trash processed cheddar cheese on daily basis. What do I know about cheese?

It does not matter, really. The type of cheese I have tasted so far makes me happy. I often don't have any idea about what to eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner aside from "something with cheese in it".

Naturally, I also have a "list of cheese types to eat before I die" (I have all kind of weird lists LOL). Meanwhile, I will just savour all the trash processed cheese I can get my hands on, because if what my Dutch friends said were true, I would hate trash processed cheese with passion after I am used to how the "real" cheese taste like.

Scott sent me this image to show how cheese-heaven look like.
Well, he did not say exactly like that but that was how it looked like for me LOL

That being said, I do not condone blasphemous usage of cheese like putting it in most types of cold beverages, such as avocado juice and es durian. I am all for creatively using cheese in various dishes, but I have limits too, you know?

2. Long warm shower

Ohhh I can feel my muscles relaxed when I imagined it. A small waterfall of perfect temperature (sooo hard to get it in my home; usually it is either Antarctica or hell fire). A lather of fancy-smelling shower gels (current bae : Honeymania shower gel by The Body Shop), and perhaps Astrud Gilberto singing in the background. Mmmmm.

Yeah, not a really eco-friendly way to be happy, I know. I tried to limit myself to a maximum 10 minutes shower... and that 10 minutes is pure bliss.

Bonus point if I can wrap myself in blanket and fuzzy socks afterwards.

3. Used up my ballpoint ink

Oh Dear God it feels like ungggghhhh. Like somehow you are doing something right with your life, you persevered and you are now nearing the finish line, AND YOU DID IT! And then you replace the ink with cheap-ass ballpoint refill and WELL DONE! You are reducing waste, one step at a time.

It might seem minuscule but it always remind me that if I hang on a bit, I would eventually reach my objectives.

4. Cats

Ah, cats. Little enigmatic purring ball of fur. They are such a mysterious creature; strutting around, bowing only to their own rules. Perhaps that is why it always feels so special when you finally found a key to their hearts, and they warmed up to you. Most of the time, the key is several pouches of cat food given in consecutive days, but still. Their affection is precious, as is their little toe beans. They probably scratch you when you pet them for too long, but heck, it is worth it.

Reason for not blogging these last months : Lady Hachiko the Magnificent ordered her hooman not to.

5. Reading a very good book

Sometimes the book is so good you don't want to part with it. I would start reading them slower, and slower, and slower...savouring every words. And then when finally you are finished with it, you already longed to go back. And then you realized that you don't have to go back...the stories you love live within you.

Moving on from books like this is harder than moving on from That One Ex Who Got Away.

Recent books that made me feel like this
- The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (read my review here or download free [and legally] from Girlebooks here)
- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (download free [and legally] from Girlebooks here)
- Unwind by Neal Shusterman
- All 7 books of Harry Potter by Our Queen Rowling (After all this time? Always)
- Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich (I wouldn't say this book made me happy but, oh my God, it is so good and heartfelt, it melted me into a puddle of tears)


Oh God, I spent way too much time to write about this, and this ends up longer than expected. Thus, I decided to split it into two parts. I will post the other five later today, because apparently I have not finished a report due this afternoon.


May God be with you, you random lurker in dark alleys of world wide web. Thanks for reading this. Come back later for more, if you want to...