A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

50

50 questions that free your mind: No. 16

As part of my Day Zero Project, I will be answering the 50 Questions That Free Your Mind. For each of these, I will blog an answer and then it will be linked here as well. Some of these will have longer responses, some will be extremely short. But by the end of the Day Zero Project, I will have answered all of these.

No. 16: How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?

This might be one of the easier questions so far with this project.

The simple answer? Because we’re all human.

To go a bit more in-depth, let’s think about this for a minute. Every person on this planet is different. A different mind. A different soul, outlook and everything else. It’s true. We’re all different. (I know, that’s not Earth-shattering news).

I have no issues waiting 30 or more minutes for the photo I want to take... others not so much. (I only had to wait 15 minutes for this one to unfold!)

But it’s the reason.

Everyone’s mind works different toward what is happy. Simple things, anymore, make me happy. A round of disc golf. Searching for a geocache or a letterbox. Going out and taking photos.

For other people, it’s a more expensive taste. Expensive cars. Going out to eat at posh places. Things like that.

Still, for others, it’s sitting down to read a good book for a few hours.

Everyone has a different threshold of happiness. I can sit down and watch a baseball game for 22 innings and not have any issues. I know many people who wouldn’t watch an inning. To each their own.

I’ll sit around for 30 minutes to wait for the perfect photo, if I think it’s going to happen. Other people would balk at that idea. But in the end, it makes me happy.

I have friends who think geocaching might be one of the silliest things ever done. I have other friends who think it’s OK and will tag along — in perfect weather, of course — and go find a few with me. But through this game, I’ve found many friends who are as into it as me. So I can understand where they are coming from.

Here’s another example.

I have many friends who are massive golfers. They can go out, play 18 holes, have a few drinks and call it a perfect day. Though I like golf (I haven’t actually played a round of regular golf in a few years), I look at it different. It costs way too much (many places can range from 25-50 bucks for a round, if you get a cart etc.), and takes too long (3.5-4 hours for 18, if not a bit too long).

I can spend my time doing a lot of other things with that money and time.

Now, I do play disc golf. But the rounds don’t take nearly as long, it usually doesn’t cost anything (and most pay-to-play courses are only a few bucks, anyway), new equipment doesn’t rip your wallet loose and I can play a round as well as do some hiking, find a few geocaches/letterboxes and take some photos and probably have a full lunch in the amount of time it takes for a regular round of ball golf.

Again, to each their own.

Everyone has their one personal happy place. And I don’t have any issue with people who like to spend it on the golf course. It’s a quiet place and if you treat golf as just a game, it’s a nice way to spend a day.

It all goes back to us being human.

We all work in different ways, so what makes me happy, won’t make the next person happy. In the end, as long as each person can find their own happiness, and not at the expense of screwing up somebody else’s happiness, we should all be fine.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

50 questions that free your mind: No. 14

As part of my Day Zero Project, I will be answering the 50 Questions That Free Your Mind. For each of these, I will blog an answer and then it will be linked here as well. Some of these will have longer responses, some will be extremely short. But by the end of the Day Zero Project, I will have answered all of these.

No. 14: Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?

Isn’t this something everyone can say about life as a whole?

Once again, this list baffles me. I have been holding off doing this question because I’m not sure what to say about it. I’m sure, at some point in my life, I’ve seen a piece of art that made me say “what in the name of holy hell do people see in this?” Then, after staring for a bit, I see it.

Example — I’m a fan of Pablo Picasso.

Many people will look at his art and wonder what he was doing, or how it’s art. I see some amazing work and creativity. The big thing is that art — and other mediums such as that — are based on personal preference.

So I could see it happen in many ways.

Without giving away too many details, I’ll give one example where I saw it.

When I was an adjunct instructor of English at a local college, I used a group writing project to try and have students help one another with their writing and have to be able to write a story, from beginning to end, as a group.

It required the meshing of many personalities, thoughts and ideas.

Further, some groups didn’t get along well (it was random draw). So, there would be confrontations or some members of the team would just go along with the more demanding members, just to get the project done. Being everything was done in class, I got to see the process unfold.

During one of the semesters, one group stuck out.

Their idea for a story (it was up to them — it could be about anything, fact or fiction) was off the wall. I questioned them and they assured me that the story would come together.

Sure enough, in the end, it was a hit. It was creative, well done and was voted, by the rest of the class, as the best story. So from insanity went creativity.

But look around. This happens everywhere. I’m sure something will happen soon to show it to me again!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!