happiness - i love reading about happiness

I used to read a lot of books about Buddhism. now I read a lot of books on happiness. kinda the same thing. I figure, the more you read about it, the more you have it. I figure the more you write about it, same thing. I think people are endlessly fascinating. like a moliere play, we are all sizing each other up and trying to figure each other out most of the time and most of the time nobody is getting it right. and yet we are, we just don't realize it. I know a few people - we all do, right? - but I know a few people who, just knowing them, makes me happy. so not only do I read about it, write about it, I figured I would try to recreate the people I know who make me happy just so I can get even more happy. that's my one woman show idea in a nutshell (and now I won't write about writing anymore again, for a long time).
let's begin with person S. person S is a writer (ok no more about writing). and the reason this person makes me happy is... he just doesn't care. he passes zero judgment on anyone or anything and, to top it off, he is actually excited about the little things that I think nobody would even notice or care about. he takes his time. he takes his time to answer a question. he takes his time to let you talk. he is the kind of person who will absolutely let you finish your thought before he interjects his. not because he's slow or dim witted but because he is not only polite but interested in every last word you have to say. that's classy. and that inspires me because most of the time I am one of those people who thrive on the thoughts that zing through my mind as I listen to somebody else talk and often (not always) but often I jump in on the river rapids of the  conversation because I like the hustle and bustle of a busy conversation. I like the noise. but it is so refreshing to see that there are other ways to give someone a platform. to just be who they are. to revel in who they are. to let them stand alone and strong on the mountain top of their monologue. no need to interrupt. the stream of thoughts pouring forth from the loins of my mind is fascinating enough apparently (hence, the BLOG, ok no more about writing!!!) to stand on its own. that is an amazing gift that he gives. and I try to emulate that. I try. but the funny thing about trying that on other people is that they often think you're crazy (you can see the look in their eye) but actually they eventually like it, too. they feel listened to. no need to toss in my opinion. I just listen and listen and this person actually grows in stature and strength as I just give them the platform to speak and maybe, eventually, they stop going on their monologue rant of whatever is bothering or exciting them at the time and they finally stop and say, 'so, what do you think about ___________?' they finally really want to know instead of feeling like they have to vie for enough time at the mic of life.
ok, so there is one. the essence of S. let me show you another. let's call her A. person A is amazing. she is the kind of person who looks at you, even after not having seen you for a long time, as if she has known you in a thousand past lives. for a long time I didn't know what to make of this look. I thought to myself, she doesn't know me. how would she know me? she barely knows me and yet with every conversation I have ever had with her, we connect on the most microscopic level. whatever it is I happen to like/be excited about/noticed in the world, she has noticed too. from the outside, it might sound kinda creepy, but it's not because she really really has. like this, if I were to say to her, hey A. I feel very grounded today. I know it sounds strange but I feel like if I work on feeling grounded, like actually feeling my feet sink into the earth and not let go, if I just plant my feet no matter how silly I look and just stand still, if I literally focus on the feel of the ground under my feet and making sure I am not lifting the heel of my foot and making myself teeter totter in any shape or form, if I do that physically, then I feel like it helps me mentally. and I think it really does. nothing can faze me. nothing can shift my mood. nobody can say something that gets under my skin and eats at me. I can handle whatever nonsense my kids bring on. I will have the perfectly chiseled comeback for any comment hurled at me. and she would say, 'yes! YES! I know EXACTLY what you mean. (and she does put a lot of emphasis on certain words). YES! I know. and I am SO glad you said that because that's how I feel sometimes. I feel like, if I just slow down enough and notice things, and pay attention to what i'm feeling and slow it down enough that I can get grounded that way, too, and then YEAH! it doesn't matter what happens because I have this. I have my feet stuck to the earth and nobody can budge me. and then I can be there for people. truly there for people because none of their bulls%$t can affect me and when their bullsH&T isn't affecting me then I am helping the world, right, because I am not passing on the negative energy that is out there. that affects us all.' and i'm like YEAH, and she's like YEAH! and it is good.
and I could go on like this forever. see? it works. recreating whatever makes you happy, can make you even happier. that's why people paint. that's why people sing their favorite cover songs. that's why we do anything, really. we repeat what we love until we make it part of us.
one more. my friend from high school. my friend M. again, I will begin with 'she is amazing.' I have never met a person and I don't think I will ever meet a person who is more enthusiastic about life, about food, about whatever i'm excited about, about sitting still in a car for hours after we actually get somewhere just so we can talk some more, about the littlest things, about the biggest things. there is no one who can make a conversation last longer than her. we used to never be able to get off the phone, we would joke about making the other person be the person who had to get off the phone first because we could always find something else to talk about. and often about the most mundane of things but we could keep going and going and going and going and life became endlessly fascinating and revelatory and amazingly precious because of it. I noticed everything because of her. she opened my eyes to the world in all of its messy, beautiful, particular, spotty,  quirky glory because no stone was ever left unturned. I can never just get on the phone for a quick call to her. it will never be quick but i'm glad for that. she could take any subject. I don't care if was about a reese's mini cup and we could dissect and analyze and strategize about its size and the calorie content and the way the ratio of chocolate to peanut butter flavors was different than in a regular reese's cup and how that was uniquely satisfying in its own way. she could take anything. any subject no matter how boring or banal and make it interesting. we could be talking about shoe sizes and she or I would start going off on how 'isn't it weird how your shoe size fluctuates? and why do they have half sizes sometimes and not other times? and who decided what these numbers are? do they correspond to actually length in inches? and why is it that some shoes make your feet stink and others don't. and why can't we all just walk around barefoot and yes it would hurt but eventually you'd get calluses and why is it that people judge your if you're not wearing shoes. like those stores that say 'no shirt no shoes no service.' why is it that people look down on you if you're not wearing shoes? what is it about feet that is so low class? we don't go around covering up our hands? why do feet disgust people so much? is it because they're smelly? well, they wouldn't be smelly if they weren't covered up in shoes all the time, right?' and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. and we didn't never ever care what the real answers were to any of these questions. we just liked asking questions and pondering multiple possible answers and then seeing where that train of thought went and then that train of thought went and pretty soon we had traveled the globe with our minds together and that, to me, are some of the most supreme memories of my life. when a person is willing to go with you on the meandering path of your thought process together? that is a supreme joy that you so rarely rarely see anyone willing to make. we all have to get back on our busy schedules of life. we all have somewhere to go, something more important to do than let our minds time travel and thought travel. but I say, no. I say you have no place better to go than where your mind will take you. well, a beautiful sagey mountain top on a cool crisp morning with piney scent in the air is a close second but your mind is a beautiful place, too.