Finishing the last season of “The Good Place” on Netflix and I’m more than a little surprised at the philosophical nature of the writing. It’s been a long time since I’ve done the whole ‘why am I here’ thing but the show does make you think about the nature of belief, the nature of existence — the ‘Why are we here’ thing.
It brings to mind a snowy night in Jackson Hole, at a book store with the boyfriend and finding a copy of “The Missing Piece” by Shel Silverstein. The story he writes shows a little Pac Man looking character rolling through his world looking for his missing piece.
He meets a few different pie pieces, that he tries to fit into the spot he uses for a mouth, and they are either too big or too small. The real lesson comes when he finds that piece that fit perfectly, that he swore would make him happy. The side effect of having his missing piece…he could no longer sing.
He left the piece behind, No longer having the voice to sing, made him unhappy. So it wasn’t a quest for his missing piece, it’s a search for happiness.
In this Twilight Zone that is 2020 what is it to be happy? Is it having a steady job when so many do not, even if it’s not the perfect job for you. Is it being able to access a food bank during this time of questions, so your kid has the right food while politicians play games with stimulus relief. How does what’s going on around us impact what makes us happy?
Is it money and what it buys that brings happiness, or would you be just as happy if you were living out of a van but able to travel where you wanted? Is happiness being able to escape your reality under a VR helmet, or watching WWE or anime? (if you look at my teen, it’s role playing over the internet with her friends from overseas after school) Is your happiness dependent on others? If your partner or child aren’t happy – can you be?
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