Chasing After the Wind

Last night, Son #1 was positioning his army men and tanks all over the family room floor and breathlessly chattering nonstop about squadrons, reconnaissance teams and surveillance missions. He even had a few men stationed on the mantle that I noticed as we headed off to bed. Snipers, he informed me.

In the midst of all of this, he noticed the book that I blogged about yesterday.

Son #1: Mama, you don't need to read a book about play. Just get down on the floor with me and think strategically.

Once again, trumped by a nine year old.

Why is this topic of happiness so interesting to me? Simply because I'm a chronic malcontent?

According to recently published research that my loving brother shared with me: I am not alone. Women's happiness has declined over the past 35 years both absolutely and relative to men. In other words, men may have been the primary beneficiaries of the women's movement! Go figure.

To make matters worse, it's all women. Married and single. Career women and homemakers. Childless women, women with families and single parents. All educational groups. All ages. All races (where known). It's universal: women are less satisfied with their family's financial situation, have become increasingly dissatisfied with the amount of available free time, feel decreased social cohesion, and are facing increased anxiety and neuroticism.

Why? Possibly because even though women have greater professional opportunities, we still carry the emotional burden for our families on top of it all. Or because we have so many outlets outside the home, we cannot be happy across all facets of our lives. Maybe our expectations grew and our lives are not measuring up.

Sound familiar? All I know is that I'm on a personal mission to end the misery and I don't think the antidote is found anywhere but within myself. And if I find in myself a desire that this world cannot satiate, I can only conclude that I was made for another world.

Mini-weekend: Day 14

Sunshine. High in the mid-80s. What's not to like?

Instead of accomplishing anything constructive today, I took the opportunity to read the book play written by Stuart Brown, M.D. For someone seeking greater happiness in life, I'm a big proponent of elevating the status of play in our culture.

From a "play personality" perspective, I clearly belong in the "explorer" category. Not only do I love to travel, even if it's just shuttling the kids to D.C. for the weekend, I also enjoy seeking new perspectives in myself. This possibly explains why my bible study is so important to me, why I'm such an avid reader and why, stress levels aside, I enjoy the variety and constant learning found in management consulting. It also explains why I'm willing to engage in many of the activities my kids ask me to do. Normally, I wouldn't be the first to sign up for ice skating . . .

So how can I proactively bring more play into my daily life? I need to pay attention to the times when I'm so lost in an activity that I lose track of time -- and then I need to actively seek more of those activities. Writing, swimming, painting, dancing, reading, hanging with the family and going out with girlfriends. Upon brief reflection, however, I think I'm doing a pretty good job of play already!

No wonder my house is such a mess.

When the working day is done
Oh girls they wanna have fun
Oh girls just wanna have fun!