Freegan

I just saw a documentary about the money and lifestyles of different women in London.
The crew documented a golddigger, a self-made millionaire, and a woman who identified as a freegan.
I had never heard of freegans before, but as I watched, I became more and more amazed.

The idea initially repulsed me,
Freegans live and eat for 'free' by digging through bags of garbage outside shops, bakeries,  delis, restaurants and other places. 
How disgusting is that? Digging through garbage to find things you eat?
That's not safe, that's not sanitary, why not just buy fresh foods instead of eating waste?


My stomach churned, and my blood ran like ice from shock as I kept watching,
Even more disgusting than digging through the trash,
Even more sickening than taking food from rubbish bags,
Even more shocking than eating the food from garbage bags,
Was the amount of food, and even worse, PERFECTLY GOOD food found.

This was not the scraps and bones you and I throw in the green bin.
Whole sandwiches swathed in plastic, stickers intact.
Sushi, arranged by the tray, still in perfect rows and in a crystal clear plastic container.
Breads and rolls, still soft, even in the winter air, straight from bakery shelves.
A whole tureen of soup, in a bag, still WARM.
Sandwiches, pasta, wraps, spring rolls, sushi, soup, bread, rice balls, burritos, nachos, everything that could possibly be found in a ready-made section at the grocery store.

I was reminded of Metro in a chilling electric moment, the sandwiches and wraps seemed a deja-vu.
Could this really be happening? Even in Canada? Even in my own neighborhood?

This morning I heard an announcement about the drought in the Horn of Africa.
That people were starving, crops were failing, and everyone there was in desperate need of relief aid.
As hundreds of people lay starving and dying of malnutrition there,
Here, what seems like worlds away,
Grocery stores, bakeries and delis are throwing out hundred of dollars of food. 
Every. Single. Night.

What's the point of wasting food? Can't these groceries at least donate the rest?
Send them someplace where the less fortunate could have them?
All it really takes is a trip downtown to see exactly where this food is needed.

What a wasteful world, as others waste away.

Happiness

Today was a lovely day. 
The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I volunteered at the Markham Science Rendezvous.
Life is so beautiful today. It gets me pondering about happiness. 
I think I can establish a few truths that I've discovered about happiness.


1. Happiness is elusive. It is fleeting, and it's hard to hold on to forever.
2. Happiness is subjective. 
3. You rarely understand what will make you truly happy.

But the more I thought about the "truths" of happiness

The stranger it becomes.

First the issue of holding on to happiness.
I don't think it's possible at least not forever and constantly. 
I have yet to meet anyone who is always happy, all the time.
In fact, if I were to meet this person
I would not only be really surprised but feel sorry for them.
The feeling of great and strong happiness can only come after some other sort of emotion.
The love that comes after a really tough and brutal fight.
The hope that comes after a long period of suffering.
The emotions that you feel when someone returns after being so far apart.


It's all elevated by the contrast. 
The white made so much brighter by the dark background.
The shining iceberg in a raging storm. Beacon of light in a stormy night.


Happiness is subjective.
This is fundamentally true,
There are people who will say 
"The happiness of ______ is also my happiness"
It's still subjective. Your happiness "paradigm" so to speak, is to rely on others.
It's impossible to share precisely, exactly, down to the last detail, 
the same happiness as someone else.


You rarely understand what will make you truly happy.
This is also true. 
The more I move along in my life, 
the more I realize how little I know about my own happiness. 


There will always be things that will grow on to you.
There are acquired tastes, 
There is inexplicable love,
There is unpredictable talent,
There are undiscovered interests,
There are paradigm shifts, epiphanies, and discoveries.


There are so many things in the big, beautiful world.
So many things to learn.
So many things to experience.
So many things to try.
To eat, to touch, to smell, to see, to hear.
To feel, to love, to discard and then rediscover.
To rekindle, to forgive, to understand. 


Maybe that's what happiness is all about. 
There is no destination called happiness.


There is no finish line, no ending prize, no hidden bounty.
It's in the quest, the treasure seeking, the exploring.
The learning, the experiencing, the love, the feelings.
The very search for happiness. 
That's where people should really be looking.


I've discovered lasting happiness does not lie in anything you could ever buy, or quantify.


True happiness comes from you appreciating what is there. 
It's helped for me to take on a new view of happiness. 
To get one step closer.
Happiness is no longer about achievement,
Happiness is about understanding the meaning of what you have achieved.

Disguises

It's so hard to tell who's happy and who's just pretending.
Everyone has gotten so good at constantly putting his or her best face forward, I can't even tell anymore.
I find myself feeling uneasy around some people, and yet, still not take the initiative to ask if they're okay because
I'm never too sure.
I think it's time to make a change in that. 


I think it's time for me to ask if you're okay, even if you actually are.
I just want to be sure. I just want to make sure.
I want people to open about how they feel inside,
I want them to feel like the world is a good place again.
I've learned so much about the world today.
The people with the biggest smiles sometimes have had the worst days.
The people who laugh the loudest at something are the ones who hurt the most.
The people who seem have it all, sometimes have nothing at all.
The people who pretend nothing's wrong are the ones who have it the worst.
The people who say they care the least are usually the ones who care the most.
Be brave. You have one life to live, and make it worth living.
I just want to help.

Discoveries

I don't know if this is just me.
Maybe it's just the way I see things. 
Maybe it's my cynical, paranoid, crazy mind.
But it's hard to find people that make you perfectly comfortable these days.
It seems that the world we live in is such a cut throat place. 
I'd love to think that everything is sunshines and rainbows, and that humans are innately good, and will always act 
for the good, but that's not true.
I'm glad that I have people in my life that I will always feel comfortable talking to, whom I trust, whom I care deeply for.
But it also saddens me when I find out the people can sometimes act one way but say another. 
But like I say, forgive and forget. 
It's not too hard to forgive, to understand where they're coming from, to see the world through her eyes. 
I try to understand why. 
Why?
Was it insult? A slighted pride? Just pure hatred?
Whatever it was I forgive her, there's no use being mad forever. 
But it's actually so amusing, it's funny, it's damn HILARIOUS. 
Yes please, by all means say mean things about me. 
Will it make me like you? 
Will it make you feel better about yourself in the end? 
Did I do something to offend you by existing? By talking to you? By trying to be your friend?
It's so much harder to be able to forget.

Mild Musings. (:

Well thanks to Formspring and friendly encouragement I have now hopped on the blog bandwagon.

In case anyone is wondering, (I hope you are wondering) the blog title draw inspiration for the Latin phrase "mirabile dictu" which roughly translates to, according to Wikipedia, somethign that is "wonderful to say."
Which is what I hope to gain from this blog anyways, to tell everyone wonderful things that  have happened to me. Of course, there's not way EVERYTHING in here is going to be sunshine and rainbows but I might as well as start off on a good note.

So welcome to my humble blog.
:]