Direct Route to Happiness
Yesterday afternoon, after the ban on travel in NYC was lifted, I was running errands and I saw an actress that I really admire enjoying a cigarette while walking her dog. She appeared even more beautiful in person, as actresses often do and rock stars often don’t :) One of the reasons that I recognized her was because I applied to her Ivy League alma mater 4 years ago and she is one of their more famous graduates. We chatted for a minute and when she realized I didn’t attend her school she inquired where I ended up. When I said the Actors Studio Drama School, she smiled and responded that I “probably have a more direct route to happiness”.
After we parted ways I trudged through the snow with my groceries and contemplated what she had said to me. In that moment I wasn’t sure that there was a direct route toward happiness. Yesterday I wasn’t even sure that there was a direct route to my apartment. In retrospect, if there is a direct route to happiness I know that it’s not easy. For over a decade my direct route toward happiness has involved plowing through every storm of my life desperately hoping that I would live to see the sun shine on my face again. There were many moments when I had doubts. Will I survive? Will I ever be the same? Will the pain ever stop? Will I be happy again? No matter how I felt I persevered. As an artist and a person I can happily attest that I did survive, thankfully I am not the same, the pain was temporary and I am happier than I was before. My direct route toward happiness is to stay on the road and keep driving.
“You just have to keep driving down the road. It’s going to bend and curve and you’ll speed up and slow down, but the road keeps going.”
― Ellen DeGeneres, Seriously… I’m Kidding
