From the Other Side of the Edge…..
“….Happiness is the Truth!”
By Joe Facinoli

Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, Aristotle, Buddha, and Pharrell Williams.

Who knew ??

The “.…pursuit of Happiness”, is as old as the first humans. It is engrained within us all, as deeply as our most passionate need to be free. And it consumes us, at all times, whether we are even aware of it, …or not.

Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha) first “enlightened” us about it, …2500 years ago, in Nepal.

Aristotle preached of its singular, and most remarkable virtues, …in ancient Athens, not long after.

T.J. borrowed brilliant lines from George Mason’s incomparable Virginia Declaration of Rights (but wrote them better), when in 1776 he declared that this blessed “pursuit”, was indeed an “inalienable” right, along with our lives, …and our precious liberty.

And hundreds, even thousands of other famous, and not so famous people along the way, have well extolled its rewards, …and its goodness.

Then how is it, …that we so often, and so easily, tend to lose ourselves on the way to simple Happiness, …and the fulfilling richness of what is the greatest of life’s gifts ??

The most talked about, and the most obsessed about, and indeed, …the most pursued, …and yet, the most elusive, for too many stupid humans.

Enter “Skateboard P”, as he’s known in his circles, …or Mr. Pharrell Williams, to the rest of us.

Unless you’ve been under a very large rock in the Painted Desert for the last several months (or, on board a certain wayward airliner), you’ve surely been exposed to the near-constant barrage of the incredibly infectious, very uplifting and even inspiring, most wonderful musical creation by Mr. Williams, called simply: “Happy”.

Ok, so Pharrell sounds much better, and more normal, and I’m sure he would prefer that less formal moniker. But by any name, this is one talented dude.

With just a few simple phrases, and one of the most amazing and incessantly melodic “hook lines” in music history, he defies anyone to just sit there, and not “…Clap along…” with his marvelous, instantly smile-inducing tune.

It’s simply a joy, …even after it gets stuck in your head for days! Just hearing it again, or remembering it (or listening to it echo throughout my inner ear), …makes me smile, every time.

You may have seen him perform it on the Oscars telecast recently, to a live audience there. He was the coolest. Makes you want to find a big staircase, and practice walking up and down it, …just the way he did, on that night.

Even got Meryl Streep and Amy Adams (in their formal gowns and attire) up off their seats for some spontaneous, “get down” dancing with P.W., as he passed among the supposedly happy, in that A-list group.

But what is he really telling us, with this pop hit of all pop hits? Is there a message here, beyond finding a way to make us all clap and smile “spontaneously”, and run out to buy his record, and then go see the movie he wrote it for ?

You betcha.

“Clap along, …if you feel, …like a room without a roof.”

I mean, what’s a better feeling than that ??!!

Have you ever felt like you just wanted to break out of wherever you were, and shout all the good feelings that were busting out of you at that glorious moment, to the top of the trees, and to anyone who would listen??

No? Ok then, …sorry for you. Let go a little, and try harder next time.

But for those of us who have, and for many of us, on more than one occasion, “…a room without a roof” represents all the things we aspire to, and want, with all our everyday actions.

The security of being in our private space (our “room”), at comfort with ourselves, …but with no limits, and no restrictions as to how we can (or should) share our inner Happiness, with others, and with the whole world, without the slightest trepidation.

That’s it, …isn’t it?

Isn’t that what we want, and what we work for each day? Why we put up with so much, and why we try so hard at life? For this ultimate reward, …yes?

And it’s completely individual, and undefined, as it comes in all shapes, sizes, and manifestations, according to our own efforts.

Then our brother Pharrell invites us to continue clapping along with him, “…if you know, what Happiness is to you”, and definitely, “…if that’s what you want to do.”

And then he asks us for our strongest commitment yet, …to ourselves, and to our own lives. To “…clap along…” if we are ready to unconditionally surrender to the idea that for all of us, …large and small, weak and mighty, old and young, …that for everyone who truly believes in themselves:

“…Happiness is the Truth!”

No matter what form it comes to us, nor in what way, …if it’s real in our own mind, heart, and soul, …if it’s earned and we deserve it, …if it comes without qualifications, and it makes us honestly and openly happy, …then it’s the Truth.

End of story, …and what could be simpler?

But he doesn’t stop there. He also has a warning, …buried in among those simple but insightful lines of lyric, …for those who would take our Happiness.

He’s more than ready to defend his, telling the offenders and the cynics to: “…give me all you got”, and “…don’t hold back”, but also, “…don’t waste your time”, because “…my level’s too high, and I’ll be just fine, …can’t nothing bring me down.” 

This is a man who’s secure in his own Happiness (if not in his grammar choices), and challenges all comers to share it, and not to bother trying to tear it down, because it’s simply too solid, and too wonderful to give up.

Now, you know I can’t just leave this on some ethereal level. My mind (and my keyboard) just doesn’t work that way.

Why do we get so frustrated, day in and day out, with the same old things? Because we want to be Happy, …of course !!! Or at least, a lot Happi-er.

What makes that happen?

Simply, a lot less interference in our lives, from outside sources, … from those who know nothing about our lives, nor what would be best for us, in our efforts to make ourselves, our families, and those around us, …well, …Happy.

Nietzsche reminds us that, if we let it: “…all interpretations (of all things, including everyday things)…are a function of power,…not truth.”

Isn’t that where we’ve fallen to now? To a submissive place where government, or at least those in control of it, tells us what to do, and how to do it, …with everything?

That’s not truth, …that’s just “power”. And it’s certainly not good for us, no matter what they tell us.

The rest of the world has already gone there, and shown us that it doesn’t work, many times throughout history. And still, we are letting it happen here.

Long ago, Buddha told us that: “Happiness never decreases, by being shared.”

Those in power in DC, and elsewhere, have no idea of that. They don’t understand, that so very often, …less is more. That we can all be Happy, and we can share it, …without diminishing the one, to make the other better.

It just takes planning, and common sense, and a more universal, less selfish, outlook.

Aristotle told his followers: “Happiness depends on ourselves”, and, that it is “…the meaning and purpose of Life”.

Well, that sounds good, and right, …if only we are allowed to do for ourselves, and be held accountable, if we do not. Doesn’t happen, …doesn’t have much meaning, nor purpose, …if we are told to do it.

Thank you Pharrell Williams, for making me see again, with a better set of eyes, and a bigger smile, …something that really, had never left me.

Just had gotten pushed down a bit.

At the end of the Desiderata poem, we hear: “With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, …it is still a beautiful world. Be Cheerful. Strive to be Happy.”

I say: Choose Happiness, ....it beats all the alternatives.

Joe Facinoli
--Joe can be reached at: joefacinoli@gmail.com
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©Copyright 2014, Joe Facinoli