Day 90 of Happiness: Utopian Moments of the Week

Utopia.  A place a peace.  Happiness.  Lots of smiles.  Sometimes I wish I could take a trip there.  To refuel.  But here on Earth, where I haven't actually found a true Utopia yet, there are moments of supreme happiness that make me believe that the idea of Utopia is true.  Here are some of those moments:

** Waking up at 3:45am and realizing that I have a full hour of sleep before I have to get up for work.  Falling back asleep and waking up at 4am and realizing I still have almost an hour to cuddle with my hubs before the alarm goes off.  It's such a feeling of peace.

**  Walking the streets of DC in the early morning before most people arrive at work (not too early, just 7:30am) with the fresh rain on the sidewalk.  A great time to think and smell life.

**  Having a meeting at the White House (or the Eisenhower building which is practically the White House) and feeling like you're really contributing to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.  Maybe they won't listen to our plea to include farmworkers in the policy and maybe they won't care enough to extend services, prevention efforts, or medication to undocumented immigrants (who suffer from HIV/AIDS in the same way we do), but at least it is written down in the notes of the meeting and recorded.  It's the best I can do right now.

**  Getting a random phone call from an old friend from high school that I haven't talked to or communicated with since we graduated.  Brought a smile to my face.

These aren't just spots of happiness - they are huge smears.  They resonate for days and make me feel content inside.  I hope you had some Utopian moments this week too.

And I will leave you with this thought of the day, expressed in the meeting I went to today:

We need to spend more time making everyone, regarless of race, age, gender, sexuality, immigration status, education level, socio-economic status, size, coolness rating (and anything else I missed) feel like they are worth something.  We are all worth something.  We are all worth a lot.  And no one should go through life not knowing that or thinking they are worth less than someone else.  Everyone is worth something and they should know it and believe it.

P.S. More wedding photos on Maple and Mud!!