Tuesday, October 12, 2004

The Happy Place

An exercise in stress management.

Think of a place where you would much rather be right now. Any place/time that first enters your mind.
Where are you?
Are you alone - who's with you?
What's up?

Let me kickstart this, and please... don't let me be the only respondant to my questions. You may comment anonymously if you so desire.

Where am I? Tropical beach. Lagoon. Palm trees... need shade, because the sand burns my Toronto-adapted feet. Resort? no. Crude cabin/hut deal. Island... maybe not.
Who's with me? You are, of course.
What's up? Nice place to be and all, but my city-dwelling ass is getting bored because after a little swimming and exploring, we're running out of things to do. Getting frustrated because we can't open the coconuts.

No good, I'll have to try again later.

9 comments:

i said...

where: walt disney world for a week, staying at a fancy schmancy resort during autumn when the weather starts to get a bit nippy

with who: my closest friends hanging out in downtown disney drinking awesome hot chocolate and trying to stuff as many mr. potato head pieces into one box as possible

Anonymous said...

i always post anonymous just cuz i don't feel like signing up..... - wend

anyhow....i'm probably at some tropical/hot resort somewhere with unlimited alcohol...i've reached the point where i'm not sure the beet redness on my face is from the booze or the sun. either way, good times, and i'll figure out the pain later...there isn't much to do but lie around...kinda boring, but the alcohol makes everything funny. who am i with? just a few close friends...couldn't fit it into everyone's schedule...but this worked out for the better. what's up? i don't get this part....like why am i here? um...just wanted to get away from the work.

Simon said...

i'm in brian bedroom.

that is all.

Anonymous said...

That's the coolest post idea ever, good job Dust. Anyway, here's mine:
Where: Backpacking, in the mountains (possibly the Rockies), in late summer. Day's ending, just about to set up camp and start a fire. There's some sort of water nearby, small lake or river, either will do.

Who's with me: Nobody, or 1 or 2 close friends
What's up: see above. Also, somehow I'm not hungry.

Dan

That was fun!

Ivan said...

Where am I? Roaming the night markets of Singapore.
Who's with me? A couple close friends.
What's up? I'm enjoying a cup of warm stretch tea while eating up classic singaporean hainan chicken and rice. i have nothing on my mind but the food.

Cammie said...

hmm...

happy place 1 (for fun) -
where: at this moment i think i'd want to visit the town the Gilmore Girls live in....haha...because small, new england towns are so pretty in the fall...and because their town seems so cool....and cause they all seem so cheery
with who: rory and lorelai...ahaha
what's up: nothing much...hanging out at the diner...stalking characters from the show...assuming the show is actually real life that is...

Happy Place 2 (my actual ideal setting at the moment) -
Where: Colorado or some other mid-western/rockies area, in a large ranch with horses, rolling meadows and the mountains in the distance
With Who: The owner is some bubbly old lady that cooks pies and she lets me stay whenever i want.....and she has a stable boy/grounds keeper/guy-that-is-around-a-lot-helping-out who's handsome and rugged and very cowboy-gentleman-like...hahaha
What's Up: learning how to ride my horse...general relaxing, helping out, learning how to cook...

Dust said...

Sad, but I don't have a happy place really - or I can't think of one.

My Contented place - a place from my memories.
A Botanical Garden - not unlike the Bobeli Gardens in Florence, Italy. Through stone pathways, shaded by old trees, whose branches have been bent and shaped into an arched tunnel there is a clearing. In the centre of this clearing is a grassy knoll with a half-circle of ancient oaks. Here, I will sit and smoke a fragrant tobacco in my pipe, and read the newspaper. With me is Jack Daniels, and a girl with flowers in her hair. We do not speak.

The place is real enough, but I did none of those things when I was last there. Perhaps in time, I can revisit/relive my memories and make them ideal.

Steph said...

Hmmm at the moment my happy place would have been about 30 mins ago. Playing softball in the cold drizzle at 10pm at night with nothing but the park lights on, but feeling nice and warm cuz i am wearing 4 layers of clothes. It's intense and i'm feeling the adrenaline rushing as it is a tie game and all we have to do is hold them there... It's a great feeling, even though we ended up losing. But it was such a fun game and i love being surrounded by all my new friends who joke around and love to play just like me.

Happy place number 2: Sitting at the top of a really high summit huffing and puffing cuz we just climbed for what seemed like hours. People around me, 2 close friends. Watching the sunset and the clouds slowly moving by. Knowing that we dont need to climb back down cuz we have warm sleeping bags, tents and firewood for the night. Or sitting on a hawaiian beach at dusk talking, sipping drinks and letting the warm waves lap over your feet.

Anonymous said...

mmm . . . i like happy places . . .

right now i see myself straddling a really nicely tuned, humming motorcycle (the humming part is important), speeding down the highway somewhere really remote. it's nice and sunny, but not humid, so i guess i am in one of those cool twisty canyon deals you always see in those american biker catalogues. the landscape has to be interesting enough that there is something to see, but not too detailed, so i can see it all while going fast. preferably around sunset. things always look nicest then.

if i could find anyone else to go riding with, then they'd be with me. driving in packs is fun. and it really intimidates them car drivers.

what's up? hmm. depends how fast i am going, and how much the bike vibrates.