The Happiness Bubble

Taking in the view from "Old Rag" of the Shenandoah Mountains, I realized that happiness can be a tangible thing that can be augmented for perpetuity.



Are really good things too good to be true? I was listening to a Planet Money podcast about how the price of gold has continued to soar way higher than ever deemed reasonable. Much like the overinflated stocks from the dot.com boom, gold is poised for a collapse. Or is it? More importantly, do all good things have to lose their acceleration or level out?In my quest to reach the true pursuit of happiness, I’m trying to fathom what exactly creates happiness and if I can pinpoint that, can I pinpoint a way to continually get happier and happier? After packing in a Memorial Day weekend with things that have made me exceedingly happy, I’m looking to use the experience I gained this weekend to turn leisure into an opportunity for growing my level happiness.

Here are the factors that I think are most significant in building happiness and below I will get into why they are important

- Feeling connected to a loved one

- Sharing new places with a loved one/friends/family

- Sharing common experiences with friends

- Achieving a goal

- Experiencing the natural world

- Being able to accomplish all of these things while maintaining your other values or your visions for the future

Love is a six pound milkshake from Chick 'n Ruth’s Delly Annapolis, a bike ride to Quiet Waters, sun block lips, the view from Old Rag. It’s connection with another individual that you crave with your entirety, sometimes not knowing why, and sometimes knowing fiercely that only your goofball could find joy in the way you intuit life, bound through leisure, and dig deeper into the enigma of existence itself. It’s that connection that I believe is the single most important thing to feeling happy or fulfilled.

That connection can exist anywhere, but it’s ubiquitous in places that have meaning. And its stark in new landscapes. That is why traveling with those you care about is so important in feeling fulfilled and happy. Even if it’s just getting in the car to go to a new or meaningful sanctuary just an hour away. Thank you Ileana, for your brilliant adventure streak.

Yes, car trips that spew carbon into the air are worth it to find happiness. Just think about purchasing carbon credits, so when you or someone else uses energy in the future, that energy can be clean and counter your GHG emissions today.

At the base of the 8.2 mile hike up Old Rag, a waterfall rushing with possibility charms the beautiful, Ileana Vink.





Anyway, connection is vital into shaping who we are. It’s getting a voice mail from a friend who has made it his personal prerogative to get in touch with you, who then sends you the two books Getting More and Strengths Finder to help you carve out your next steps in the future. Tack ska du ha Hector.

Friendships are perpetually changing and invaluably crucial, as I came to realize over cantaloupe hookah with my friend Dan who is leaving DC and heading back to Chicago. After talking about everything from Pan Americano to confidence building to the job scramble, we came to a consensus that achieving small goals regularly is the way to the way to feel damn good about being alive. At the same time we came to an understanding that it is important to not lose what you have. Though we can hardly ever hitta tiden att prata svenska, its still important to never lose Swedish because it has become part of who we are.

In a sense that’s what I think the secret to building happiness is. If you can maintain your baseline of what gets you going and then build little by little on top of that baseline, your happiness can augment ad infinitum and never pop. That’s another reason why jobs are so important in the long run, because they allow you to build on your baseline. Money becomes a tool for adventure, and also the job itself can be a tool to improve happiness or at least keep it at a constant level while the money earned therein can be used to grow happiness.

I don’t what will happen to gold, but hopefully happiness can be a bubble, that when crafted intentionally will grow for perpetuity.

Rich food vitalizes food stampers

I gave this local farmer poker-chip-like tokens to purchase tasty as all getup Elephant Kale. He could then redeem the tokens at the end of the day for a check. In this manner, the EBT/SNAP pilot program allows EBT card holders to purchase food items at the Farmer's Market.

Like a head sprouting through the birth canal, summer has emerged – wet, sticky and full of life. Seizing the season’s inception, Erin Lee, her man Richard, and I voyaged to the Four Mile Run Farmers Artisans Market, Sunday, to test out its new EBT/SNAP pilot program.

There in Arlandria, our low incomes actually proved to be a blessing. Because of the generosity of a hospital in Alexandria, which is subsidizing us foodstampers. We received $10 to spend as long as we spent $10 or more of our SNAP/EBT benefits.

We made out like chieftans with some serious local loot. Fresh strawberries, elephant kale, farmer’s fresh eggs, hamburgers, bratwurst, tomatoes and onion were among the gamut of goodies we walked away with. Thanks to Stifler Beef Farm, also known as “What’s for Dinner Now,” I was able to buy meat free from the heartless travails of factory farming.

Life was good. I had found a Mecca where I could use my EBT benefits to send a signal to the market. Yeah, with my Virginia-taxpayer funded transfer payment I was helping prop up quality establishments with decent values. Erin, Richard and I were doing well.

After the Farmer’s market, we got our swim suits and readied for a journey to Great Falls. But before we departed, I noticed tiny purple berries speckling a tree that overhung a sidewalk by my apartment. I started picking and eating with delight, and Erin informed me they were mulberries. I picked for the better half of an hour and only collected about six ounces of mulberries. I now understand why blueberries and blackberries are so crazy expensive.

Mulberry trees bear a bountiful supply of tasty fruit outside of my apartment in the Columbia Grove complex. My apartment is subsidized by a grant given to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing and I'm truly living in a rare situation, where poor people get great things.

Alas, we headed to Great Falls and Richard showed us a secret swimming spot his friend had revealed to him. Apparently we came too early in the year, because we couldn’t even see the rock that Richard and his friends had sunbathed on before hopping into the mouth of the waterfall. We were looking at waters “about five feet higher than should be,” according to Richard.

Nonetheless it was good, freeze your cajones off, swimming. And there were butterflies abound! We saw about eight Tiger Swallowtails going crazy over some delicious snack they found near the source of the waterfall.

Behind Erin Lee & Richard a giant rock is normally exposed in the water, however, the water level is about five feet higher than normal, sources say.



Tiger Swallowtails feast near the mouth of the waterfall.

Richard seems to be this fountain of good information. He taught me of this band Architecture in Helsinki, that reminds me of Modest Mouse meets Arcade Fire. Also, there is this place in Virginia where you can squeeze between an extremely tight gorge in waist deep water and follow this route until you hit a rock wall. Then you dive under the wall and wind up on the other side of a waterfall. Nature is so full, I just want to play in it and explore it all day. Work is such a waste of life.

Anyway, we got back from the hike around 3pm. As fate would have it, my girlfriend would be finishing up her singing role as a soprano, at Greek wedding held in DC, around 5:30pm.

Sidenote: She’s crazy talented and when she reveals her vocal prowess it makes talking seem criminal.

So, I decided I would walk to DC from my Arlington apartment. I left at 3:30pm figuring I would have plenty of time. WRONG. It took me almost three hours to get to our meeting spot in DuPont, and that was after I hopped a couple of fences at Arlington National Cemetery and sprinted up New Hampshire.

When I saw Ileana in her maroon dress, I remembered why work is not a waste of life. It allows for things like DC, New York, and Confluence adventures. And most of all work brought me to a wonder-babe, and with a little luck, it will lead me to even more opportunity.

Undeniable Truth: Summer is the best backdrop for voracious exploration and new freedoms. Viva las foodstamps, farmers markets, new sources of adventure, and the unknown ahead. May we mold life into the forms our hearts so desire.

One day, you'll have to be President

I think it’s time to adopt the “let’s assume I have to be President one day,” mentality. It’s a really good mindset, because it makes you realize just how much you have to learn about everything to be able to problem solve in a way that is feasible and better for the country.

Yes, I just watched my favorite episode of West Wing thus far. Toby – boring ass, follow the rules, don’t tread on anything the least bit courageous even if it’s the right thing to do – Toby uses the president’s authority to put together a military funeral for a homeless Korean vet who passed away. In fact, Toby’s moral compass pushes him into scrumtrulescence. It’s a phenom episode – CJ goes out on a date after playing impossible to get, Sam and Josh play hardball, and Leo’s dicey past comes charging to the forefront…If you don’t watch West Wing it’s about time you get on that, because you’re missing the reason why people watch tv.

Anyway, moral compass scrumtrulescence is what this blog post is all about. What would you do to make your world better? Or make this country better?

I read an article in the economist today that informed me if we didn’t raise the debt ceiling our nation would default on its loans and economic chaos would ensue. Which could be a lot of fun if we weren’t living in a globalized world, because anarchy would favor the lower and lower middle classes as they could reach in for land and resources that would become unclaimed in a USA without order, but in today’s world, another nation would probably swoop in and take the spoils, perhaps a China, or maybe even a U.A.E. if its international army - put together by ex-Navy Seal, former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince - augmented. But I digress, we would never default, because we can raise the debt ceiling and after we raise the debt ceiling, we have two years to come up with a strategy to balance our budget.

Anyway, what does any of this have to do with a moral scrumtrulescent compass?

What if you had to decide how to balance the budget? What the hell would you do?

I’m getting these great visions of putting our inmates to work. I see this tremendous labor force that is wasting away behind bars eating up tax dollars. I saw a news feature last summer show how inmates have started local gardens. Potentially, all of our jailed cons could be put to good uses like these. Then, with an ironic twist, our convicts would become our nations’ heroes by creating an economy that could boom off of the fruits of their labor. I’m thinking these inmates could learn real skills while serving time, thus having more value to society during their incarceration and as a result being more hirable when they get out. And this could potentially lower rates of recidivism.

This is kind of fun. I’ve got to keep going. After all, we can always get more efficient.

Though Japan ruined any confidence in de facto nuclear energy, with increased safety precautions, we could amp up our supply of nuclear energy and then use this energy to fuel electric cars and houses. We wouldn’t have to worry about a carbon footprint or money going into the hands of Oil tycoons like Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the U.A.E. who is using oil profits to buy large mercenary armies.

Okay, I’m well aware this post has took a turn for annoying and I am now ranting, but it’s kind of fun and the rant is almost over, plus West Wing has me all fired up, so I continue…

I’ve dabbled in the black market of the food industry with some dumpster diving this year. I’ve seen tons of food go to waste, but I’ve also seen a fair share of food get donated. I’m wondering how much edible food gets wasted every day vs. put to a good use? What kind of numerical figure would the waste equate to? It’s definitely noteworthy; it could be tremendous.

Anyway, if we all lived by the credo “let’s assume I have to be president one day,” we’d all flood the world with ideas to make our world better (obviously with varying degrees of feasibility). Plus, we’d have to get better at speaking affluently, knowing current events, and being crazy engaged in everything.

I’m convinced for the day and hopefully for much longer that in order to get closer in my pursuit of happiness, I need to adopt the “let’s assume I have to be president one day,” mentality.

Kids go all out for 'Cleanup with the Corps'

Greenbrier Learning Center students attack the caches of debris that have collected along the Four Mile Run creek bed, during the Saturday, May 14, "Cleanup with the Corps" event kicking off AmeriCorps Service Week.

Silver chrome, soda bottle spectacles magnified the energy pouring out from his ashen eyes. With a traceable Greek accent he introduced himself in English and then switched to exchanging pleasantries in Spanish.

It was 9:30 am, Saturday, May 14, and just another opportunity for Takis Karantonis to extend his goodwill to the citizens of Arlington, outside of his existing philanthropy with the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization and Arlingtonians for a Cleaner Environment.

Speaking to a handful of children and their families at Greenbrier Learning Center’s Virginia Garden’s site, Karantonis explained how runoff from the rain found its way into Arlington’s streams and tributaries before they emptied into the Potomac. Engaging in a dialogue with the kids, he helped them understand the stages of the water-cycle. In a nutshell, water evaporated from the oceans, fell as rain on land, and worked its ways into streams merging with rivers that carried water back to the oceans, where the process began anew. Sure there were some moments of perplexity where the kids’ faces mirrored the labors of constipation, but when all was said and done, Karantonis had made his point and the kids and families were fired up about cleaning their community.

Karantonis was one of two guest speakers who convened on behalf of Cleanup with the Corps, an event held in concert between Greenbrier Learning Center and the Four Mile Run Restoration Group. Miguel Ortega, field director was the other individual who spoke at the Greenbrier site. In total a group of around 30 individuals composed of kids, family members, volunteers and Greenbrier and Four Mile Run staff and AmeriCorps Members took part in an hour-and-a-half environmental beautification effort at Barcroft and Glencarlyn parks.

I’d been planning this event for months in collaboration with my extremely cool and very effective boss, Virginia Gardens Site Coordinator Erin Garnett and the friendly as ever Invasive Plant Program Coordinator Sarah Archer, so when the skies opened up on us at 9:05 am it felt like a harbinger of gloom had descended, but it was only a feeling.

When 18 of us at the Virginia Gardens site embarked for our cleanup at 10 am, the clouds had already emptied their contents making for a temperate morning to be outdoors. Karantonis’ poignant speech coupled with trash-picking prize potential the kids set out in a buzz. The kids from both sites competed to earn the award for collecting trash in five categories: longest piece, most unusual piece, funniest piece, prettiest piece, and greatest overall volume.

Erin Lee Givarz artistically crafted medallions for the first four categories and Greenbrier Learning Center handed out t-shirts to the team members of the two groups that collected the greatest volume of trash. One girl found a Sacajawea-like hair braid extension, a medal coil that when unfurled would stretch over 100 feet, and collected a Viking’s load of trash, netting her the longest piece, the most unusual piece, and helping her team win the greatest overall volume category. One young lad found a rubber ducky which earned him the funniest piece. And another girl found a jewelry charm to take home the prize for prettiest piece of trash collected.

The kids got into it. At one point they had an assembly line going at the Four Mile Run creek bed where they passed recyclables from one kid to another, to another, before slamming them home in the clear recyclable bag. It was a stark moment of eco-glory that Gaia herself would have been proud of.

In the spirit of the day we had a celebration barbecue tended to by grill-masters Carolyn Schulte and the radiantly beautiful, Ileana Vink, who I still haven’t properly thanked nor could ever summon the right words to adequately show her how wonderful she truly is. Her brilliance is just as resplendent as her romantic streak, and the way she writes about our six-month anniversary that we recently celebrated is like attending a Metric/Killers/Flaming Lips show at the outbreak of a pax mundus.

Anyhow, the barbecue was encouraging as I witnessed the kids being kids as they took off their shoes and waded in Four Mile Run alongside the Glencarlyn Park picnic shelter. I also believe that like Morpheus finding Neo, I’ve found a new Kobayashi protégé. After some minor prompting from my end, the kid ate seven different food items among the gamut of turkey burgers, hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, cup cakes and cheese- and fruit-stuffed pastries. I can’t wait to work with at the Greenbrier Learning Center site this summer so I can help train this kid in competitive eating and prepare him for stardom.

Environmental elixir found?

Planet Wisely is not dead. Far from it. I’ve just been on a long sabbatical from the blogosphere, much to the benefit of good living. Now as a mudfish returns to the replenished waters of a once barren creek, I return to the Web, ready to live life in the true pursuit of happiness.

In my quest to get better and freer, I believe I’ve found the elixir to the vast majority of this country’s environmental ails. Nestled in the writing of Barry and Martha Field, lies a gorgeous method, an analytical paradigm, rather a brilliant way to see the world known as normative economics. Normative economics studies what happens to society if you use effective incentives to tip the scales in favor of socially accepted enterprise. It favors math over rhetoric and changes human behavior based on rational decision making over moral imperatives.

This is going to get a bit textbooky and I’m sorry about that, but there’s a harmonious example of normative economics that gets to the powerful simplicity of effective incentives.

In New Hampshire, the city of Dover had to close its municipal landfill in 1979 because it had run out of space. The city of Dover entered into a contract with a private hauler to take its trash to a different landfill while adopting a new payment scheme for its residents.

Under the original payment scheme, residents paid a flat fee for refuse collection, and the city covered the cost of the fee. There was no limit to the amount of trash residents could throw out and there was no incentive to recycle.

Under Dover’s new payment scheme, residents pay for trash and the city pays for recycling. Dover’s residents are incentivized to recycle and generate less trash, which are both positive results for the city of Dover. In 1979, residents of Dover disposed of 11,000 tons of refuse and in the 90s the tonnage fell to 3,900.

Read more about Dover’s Pay-As-You-Throw system .

That’s one example of how simple incentives can drive massive change. If you look at Washington DC’s five-cent bag tax, you see another example of normative economics making a tremendously positive impact. DC city officials estimated that before the bag tax residents used about 270 million bags a year at grocery and convenience stores, whereas in 2010, residents tracked around 55 million bags.

Our nation is long overdue for a cap and trade system and we need to figure out a way to better incentivize renewable energy, but these are problems that should and can be solved with normative economics and it will be exciting to see how are nation pushes forward on these frontiers.

In the meantime, normative economics you are my holy grail, and I hope you fill me up one day with your vast possibility. Until next time.