Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Don't Worry...Be Happy

Over the past month i had a life changing, mind altering experience. Two weeks of being wrought with anxiety and existing in a state of complete misery.

Against my better judgment, i took a new job at a place which was pure hell. I will not go into the gory details, as i am in the process of writing about that adventure in another blog post. I may never finish it or make it public. But it was a valuable lesson for me to always trust my first impression- which was RUN Forest RUN, after my interview!



But noooooo... i didn't run away, instead lured by five extra dollars an hour, i entered Dante's Inferno run by a crew of the nastiest people i have ever met contained in one office. I am sure there were pitchforks in the back. Ironically this was a Wellness Center! I consider myself a pretty tough cookie. Worked several odd jobs when i was younger and the scariest of them was at a Steel Mill. However this time i was kicked in the butt by a force i completely forgot about. Pure Nastiness! 

After coming home every night crying, with pounding heart palps and a painful stabbing in my solar plexus- i gave notice. What a relief to be out of the viper pit. Though i must say it took another two weeks to recover. Never have i had such a violent reaction working someplace that it not only effected my physical being, but my mental. Now i understand what panic attacks are. No amount of Rescue Remedy, Calms Forte, Valerian could quell the feeling i had every day driving to work.

I am grateful to have had the epiphany that the most important thing in life is to be happy. It sounds corny, cliche and oh so Bob Marley. But the reality is- if we are not happy - why bother? As i watch my father deteriorate and my God-parents as well i realize that life is way to short to be in a state of perpetual anxiety. Don't worry. Be Happy. I rather make way less money, work with people i love and come home to make art.



As my husband said "The________ Wellness Center is the Jack Bauer of the career decision world. It basically tortured you into making a career decison." Oh yeah-i forgot- i am an artist that wanted a job that allowed me to come home and create. (And eventually jump through all the hoops to procure another acupuncture license!)

And so now i am on my Be Happy World Tour of Life. Realizing that the Universe is happy to provide a few weeks of pure hell to make me appreciate that all along i was in heaven. It makes me wonder if God is really Woody Allen directing the movie of our lives? Oh Aunty Em.. there is no place like home. Home is where the Art is. No more snarky 20 year old flying monkeys, evil witches hovering over my shoulder or bad wizards hiding behind an X-ray curtain.

This past Memorial Day weekend i played and allowed my inner child to create!
 Planet Calamari Etsy Shop

All Be Happy t-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers are available at http://www.zazzle.com/planetcalamari  20% off through Tuesday 5/29/12 with code MEMORIAL2012.

And now please stand for the national anthem of the Be Happy World Tour. Click below to sing with the Prophet of Happiness, Bob Marley!

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