"One swallow does not a summer make....

....neither does one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy." Okay, this is probably one of my favorite quotes from Aristotle. It's a perfect rejoinder to someone who thinks that one instance proves their point; at least the edited version--one swallow does not a summer make--is. But the latter part also says a lot about happiness: there can be a huge gulf between experiencing things that make you (momentarily) happy and actually being happy. Happiness, for Aristotle, is a state. And, it's what we are all looking for: once we find it we need nothing
more. So says the Philosopher, as he's been called.
      But there is still something to be said for those things that bring that warm fuzzy feeling of happiness, if even for just a moment. It even makes me happy to think of them. So, here's a list of some, but I'm sure not all; I see no pattern, but if anyone else does, let me know! And, the order of things listed means nothing.
Here goes: penguins; bikers on Harleys; road trips; an email or phone call from my husband; family coming over to visit; my kids, first thing in the morning; Christian, and especially Catholic, philosophers; Peter van Inwagen's Quam Dilecta; mass; healing masses; Barnes and Noble bookstores; libraries; a book by my bed, waiting to be read; Asian Indians (no idea where this come from, but when the feeling's there, it's there!); the Christmas season; landing in a foreign country; C.S. Lewis books; a well-delivered lecture; the life of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta; my kids having a full, happy day; St. John of the Cross; fully habited nuns on a city street; college campuses; making power point slides for other people; chocolate during a crisis (I'm not sure that such a biological reaction counts as happiness!); the day after a big grocery shopping; memories of grad school (no idea how that experience morphed into something positive, but it did); and family vacations.
     Of course, my mind also turned to those things that can give me a feeling of despair capable of sinking me for a moment or even longer. Among these are: any thought in the middle of the night; memories of summers in my hometown, during my teenage years (boooring and hot!!); settling disputes with customer service representatives; thinking of my kids going to school; and thinking of my kids growing up. Nothing else comes to mind right now, which I guess is a good thing.