Month: April 2026

I don’t remember if I have answered this before, in all honesty. I have answered similar questions. I suppose I would have to say what happy is for me. I think items can give a temporary sort of happiness. Happiness is a moment in time where I am not stressed or worried, where life seems good. Where I feel like anything is possible, and that things are looking up.

There is this particular dress I was looking for from years ago. I found it. I am waiting for the weather to warm up a bit to wear it. I plan on wearing it sometime during the vacation I am taking in early July. I saw it in Nordstrom’s. It was 2007 I believe. In the Tacoma Mall Nordstrom’s. It was over three hundred dollars, but it got my attention. And I would go to look at it almost everyday. But I couldn’t afford it. Eventually, the girl working there got me to try it on. And, surprisingly, because I am kind of short, it fit, and it wasn’t too long. It looked good. But it was still a lot of money to a poor college student who worked part time at Blockbuster Video.

She mentioned a payment plan, or if I wanted to hold it temporarily. I didn’t. I told boyfriend at the time, who I realized later was not a good person. He was the opposite of supportive. He told me it was disgusting to want an item that cost so much, think of all the food you could buy. He made me feel like an awful person for loving and wanting this dress. I knew deep down I wasn’t going to buy it. I knew it was impractical and foolish if I were to buy it. But I didn’t expect the contempt and ridicule for mentioning it.

Fast forward to 2026, I go into a boutique thrift store that often has nice clothes. I always check the dresses whenever I go used clothes shopping, just in case I see this dress again. It is like true love, I know its out there, it is just a matter of being at the right place and the right time. It was there tucked between two longer dresses, I could just see a bit of it. And I thought, that kind of looks like, but naw, it couldn’t be. And, what if my memory was playing tricks on me?

I pushed the dresses apart to get a better look at it. And, I was flooded with emotion. This was it, this was the one. There were other color variations, but this was the first one I saw when I entered the store that long ago day. It had the tag still on it. I bought it for fifteen dollars, which is more than I typically pay for a used garment, but a far cry from the asking price it used to carry.

I’ll be honest, this made my day. It created very real happiness and faith in the future. I believed again. Just seeing it again would have been immense, but being able to take it home all these years later, and know it was the one. It is like owning a piece of a long ago dream that I had forgotten. That item brought me peace, hope, and happiness. I still can’t believe I found it.

Another item that brings me happiness is my car. It isn’t fancy, it isn’t special in any way except that it is mine and I bought it new ten years ago. I like the metallic maroon color, I know it and how it handles on a subconscious level. It has brought me to events and taken me home from work. It has created happiness by giving me freedom and autonomy. It enables me to experience happy moments by just being available to me.

I love my insane movie collection. I have over 1000 DVD’s and Blu-Rays. I am trying to catalogue them so I don’t rebuy any. It has been a challenge but I have a system and there is something about sorting and collecting that appeals to my nature. I enjoy finding a rare gem, or a collector’s edition. I like finding movies I haven’t heard of that seem zany or crazy. I enjoy the physical media and the artwork. I put them in binders, alphabetical. I do have a separate binder for Disney and non Disney kid’s movies. I have been tempted to organize them differently, but, instead I may add a column to my spreadsheet on the genre, the director and maybe the lead actor. So, if I am in a Bruce Willis mood, I can just search that, or if I want to watch a Steven Soderbergh movie, I can search that, and so on.

Coffee is another everyday item that I can say brings me happiness. It puts me at ease and uplifts my mood. Brewed in a carafe or a Keurig cup, both are great. Although for me nothing beats the smell of freshly ground coffee beans. When I want to do a lot of writing I will grind the beans and brew a whole carafe. Just the smell puts a smile on my face. It is a mood changer.

Other things that can make me happy albeit temporarily, having the time to sleep in and have a lazy day. I haven’t had one day to just chill in months. I have been working six day weeks and I do sometimes crash pretty hard on that sixth day. But I still have to do laundry and make some meals. I also feel guilty if I sleep in too much. I feel like I am wasting my one opportunity to write. Writing makes me happy but it can be hard to concentrate and get a lot done at home. I have KitKat who is very demanding and she hates when I am on the computer.

If I can get away and go to a coffee shop I get more done. Sometimes my free hours don’t line up with the coffee shops who like to close at 5pm. And sometimes my day job exhausts me to the point where I can’t think straight. I have an energy issue, I get drained quickly. I also shock myself electrically throughout the house all the time. I have a sensitivity to vitamin B12, so, I break out in hives if I attempt to boost it and I react to cheap jewelry as well. I also drain phone and watch batteries if they are next to my person. So, there isn’t really a quick boost outside of coffee that works for me.

Dreaming does make me happy. Sometimes I look forward to a good nights sleep where I can go far away and have adventures. Sometimes these dreams make good short stories. Sometimes I only remember bits and pieces. Dreaming does make me happy. Waking up is a chore though.