When I try to picture for myself what a happy life might look like, the picture hasn't changed very much since I was a child - a house with flowers and trees around it, and a river nearby, and a room full of books, and someone there to love me, that's all. Just to make a home there, and to care for my parents when they grow older. Never to move, never to board a plane again, just to live quietly and then be buried in the earth. - Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney

 

 

Have you read the book Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney? It follows Alice, Felix, Eileen and Simon. Still young but yet they question life, love and try to find a way to believe in a beautiful world. I first read this book in 2021 and mentally shelved it as a romance with a deeper tone and insight from a younger generation's perspective of life and the future. While every generation has dealt with many uncertainties, as a parent of young children, I am becoming increasingly more aware of a future with climate change issues and AI's role in their job prospects. However, I still wonder whether we should just embrace doom and despair? Do we reminisce the good old days and give into nostalgia and forget the present and the future? Or do we perhaps think what we can do about all this? Should we just stay stagnant on the problem and let others take charge or can we problem solve on our own scale as well?

 

Our lives are just consequences of choices. While some choices are inadvertently made for us, we still have the power to make many choices on a daily basis. Do we buy more take-out and add to the constant influx of garbage or do we cook something simple at home instead? Do we take a deep breath or do we lose our cool? Do we drive carefully or do we zig-zag through the lanes? Do we pursue our goals or do we just give up and settle? Do we scroll more on our phones when we could instead have meaningful interactions with our loved ones and friends? Do we choose love, peace and acceptance or do we embrace the opposite?   

 

Where do we start? Which choices matter more than others? Can we really make the world beautiful ourselves instead of just look for it?

 

I firmly believe that every choice we make matters and shapes our thoughts, habits and future on individual and collective levels. Every smile, every positive and genuine interaction, every time we control what's within our control, we are slowly improving for the better and setting positive examples. While my husband calls me an "eternal optimist" and my teen calls me a "toxic optimist", I'd rather embrace either of those than the alternative. I truly hope we can all be more optimistic about life and make intentional choices.

 

 

Wishing you a lovely day,

 

Loba

 

 

 

I tell myself that I want to live a happy life, and that the circumstances for happiness just haven't arisen. But what if that's not true? What if I'm the one who can't let myself be happy? Because I'm scared, or I prefer to wallow in self-pity, or I don't believe I deserve good things, or some other reason. Whenever something good happens to me I always find myself thinking: I wonder how long it will be until this turns out badly. And I almost want the worst to happen sooner, sooner rather than later, and if possible straight away, so at least I don't have to feel anxious about it anymore. - Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney