The joy of being alive

"There are elements which, if added to one's experience, make life better; there are other elements which, if added to one's expirience, make life worse. But what remains when these are set aside is not merely neutral: it is emphatically positive. . . The additional positive weight is supplied by expirience itself, rather than by any of its contents."

~Tom Nagel, Mortal Questions

found in Nicholas Humphrey's Soul Dust: The Magic of Consciousness

I like the idea that life is at base positive, not neutral. It makes me more inclined to get up in the mornings and wander out into the world.

Buffeted by Life

I've been reading a book (Soul Dust: The Magic of Consciousness by Nicholas Humphrey) that has large chunks devoted to discussing the joy in being alive. He quotes all sorts of things - poetry, philosophy, plays... that I think fit perfectly in a blog of happy things. They also make me happier when I read them, as if by osmosis.

Here is my first favourite:

"A common feature of the hot, dry inland of Australia is the dust devil or willy-nilly, a small vortex with winds about 60 kilometers per hour. It can carry dust hundreds of meters into the air... A common native bird, the galah, has been seen flying into these whirlwinds and being hurled upwards, screeching loudly. On reaching the top, the galahs fly down and enjoy another ride by re-entering the vortex near the ground. There is one report of a flock of galahs flying into a much less common and more dangerous tornado. The winds, spinning at over 100 kilometers per hour, immediately spat them out, screeching with delight."

~Report in New Scientist, 29 Oct. 1994