In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

48 HAPPINESS:฀฀THREE฀DEFINITIONS 1. Can฀you฀be฀too฀happy?฀฀Put฀some in฀a฀box.฀฀Tape฀it.฀฀Put฀it฀on฀that shelf฀over฀there.฀฀Come฀Sadness, little฀dog฀no฀one฀likes but฀you’re฀sweet,฀you฀are, in฀your฀way.฀฀So฀I฀go to฀the฀woods฀with฀that฀dog. I฀don’t฀teach฀it฀anything.฀฀Not฀heel, not฀fetch,฀not protect฀me฀from฀monsters. He฀hardly฀looks฀back฀at฀me, never฀brings฀me฀ a฀stick฀to฀throw฀past฀him to฀the฀river.฀฀The฀river doesn’t฀shine฀in฀these฀woods.฀฀Doesn’t make฀a฀sound.฀฀There’s฀an฀old washing฀machine฀in฀it.฀฀A฀couple฀ of฀shoes.฀฀Or฀three.฀฀No฀match฀ for฀any฀other,฀one฀with฀laces฀ adrift฀like฀some฀languid฀ sea฀creature,฀tentacles฀bleached,฀ wayward,฀not฀caring฀a฀bit฀ if฀the฀fisherman฀comes฀with฀his฀net or฀not.฀฀I’m฀that฀happy. I฀don’t฀care฀either. 2. Which฀leads฀to฀a฀question.฀฀Can happiness฀make฀you฀stupid?฀฀(I฀love฀ stupid,฀said฀Stupid.฀฀What?฀฀said฀Smart. But฀that’s฀a฀different฀story.)฀฀The฀world looks฀great฀without 49 sepia,฀without฀eye฀trouble,฀the฀moon, one฀moon.฀฀And฀all฀this฀blinding฀ daylight,฀just฀what฀we฀wanted,฀yes? Question:฀฀do฀you฀relish or฀endure?฀฀Two฀curious adjustments฀on฀the฀lens.฀฀Or฀three: it฀depends,฀you฀said฀or฀I฀said,฀not฀sure what฀to฀fix฀for฀dinner.฀฀(Did฀we remember฀limes?฀฀cilantro?฀ coconut฀milk?)฀฀It’s฀just฀that,฀how stupid฀to฀qualify฀stupid,฀said฀ Stupid.฀฀Or฀was฀it฀Smart฀at฀the฀window, talking฀to฀no฀one฀in฀particular,฀squeaking฀ the฀balloon฀into฀the฀shape฀of฀a฀duck or฀a฀windmill. 3. In฀fact,฀things฀happen in฀threes,฀said฀everyone฀after฀the฀second disaster฀(those฀strokes,฀that฀trainwreck—you name฀it—an฀earthquake,฀a฀flood).฀฀We eyed฀the฀room,฀each฀other,฀checking the฀door—is฀it฀locked฀for฀the฀night? Then฀I฀slept฀and฀dreamt฀people walking฀in฀lines,฀carrying฀their฀picket signs:฀฀no฀third฀thing!฀฀I฀could belabor฀this.฀฀I฀could฀say฀as฀my long฀ago฀friend฀did:฀฀how฀do฀you฀get฀there? First฀you฀go฀there!฀฀Then฀laugh฀ myself฀sick.฀฀Or฀tell฀that฀dog: no,฀Sadness.฀฀You฀have฀to฀stay฀home. You฀can’t฀nuzzle฀the฀leaves with฀me฀all฀afternoon.฀฀But฀the฀way he฀looks฀up,฀out฀of฀focus,฀ so฀eye฀to฀eye.฀ ...

Share