It Ain't About "Happy"

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I had a chance to spend an evening with a really good friend last week.  Such times are too, too rare, and almost always too, too wonderful!

My friend is currently out of work.
She's worried, but not panicking.  Not yet.

Of course, the worry and her situation were the prime topic of our conversation. 

We did the usual - blaming the economy.  We brainstormed a couple of strategies for her to try.  We talked a lot about working and "careers" and, well, life in general.

And I was completely blown away when she shared, in a pretty emotional moment, how she just wanted to know when she'd be able to stop "struggling" so hard.  "Struggling".  That was her word.

She went on to explain it wasn't that she wanted life to be all peaches and cream, she wasn't asking for the moon, and she wasn't even asking (and this is the blowing-away part) to be "happy". 
She just wanted peace.

And my jaw dropped.

I've been saying this (to myself) for a couple of years.
It ain't about being happy.
It's about finding peace.

There are plenty of happy people out there. 
Happy has it's moments, and it's place, don't get me wrong.
Happy can come on in; I don't turn it away.

But that feeling of real peace?
Hmmm.  Not so much.

Have we, as a culture, gotten so accustomed to the frantic, techno-driven, see-it/buy-it/consume-it/dispose-of-it, everythingistemporary turmoil that passes for "happy" that we've totally abandoned a quest for calm, tranquility and that higher plane of peace?

Are we settling for some perverted distortion of "happiness" because we think it can be found in a store?
In a bottle?
In a gadget?
In another place to be, another thing to do?
In a pricier car, or a bigger house?

Or have we turned to all of those faux sources of "happy" because they are (or were) attainable while that darned peacefulness we crave is so elusive?

Which came first?

Ah, no matter.

Within a scant 48 hours of that evening with my dear friend, I found myself sitting at the kitchen table of another - albeit much more recent - acquaintance.

As we talked about a project we are considering entering into together we wove into and out of tales from our lives and our experiences.  We shared some great ideas.

And one of hers was how she felt she was finally on a path towards true peace, beyond just happiness.  Those were her words.

I know!

Unprompted.
Unscripted.
This has got to be more than a mere coincidence.

Maybe our economic woes are reaping an unexpected cultural benefit.

Could it be that, as we get priced out of more and more of those "things" that we thought were the sources of so much happiness, we find instead the absolute bliss of some peace?
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