The truth about being happy

I am currently sitting in my house on the lake, full fridge and pantry (granted all food I hate due to other people in this house still being confused on what qualifies as good food), wireless internet, and of course all the basics like running water. Why would I mention this besides trying to brag about my living situation? Well I assure you that’s not the point of this blog.

I spent the previous four days living in, well, I guess to put it in perspective; I have seen hotels with $5 hourly rates that were nicer. The carpets, spotted from years of spilled drinks, food, and other fluids that I am sure I would rather not know, gave off hints of odor from each of these forgotten spots now held captive by the fibers. The kitchen was full of dishes that appeared to have gone even longer without being washed than the carpet. In fact, while trying to pour a drink I was told to “just grab whichever one appears to have less mold”.

In the defense of the tenants, one of whom happens to be a very close friend of mine, they were in the process of moving across the street. Therefore they did not spend much time here and had not felt the need to go out of their way to clean an apartment they would soon be leaving.

Anyway the point of this article focuses more on some of the other aspects of this slowly dilapidating apartment, not the filth that had claimed it as the newest landlord. This apartment did have the luxury of electricity and running water. Yes I do mean luxury because that’s all it had. There was no phone line and therefore no internet, and while yes running water the gas had long been off resulting in a lack of water that did not border on 40 degrees. This made showering an experience that only an Eskimo could identify with. There of course was no TV either as I assume the gas bill would be slightly higher up on the list than cable. The only edible food I managed to find was a jar of olives in the fridge but those were reserved for martinis apparently and thus off limits.

The cause of such a sever lack of funds; Well the one works as an unpaid intern at The Buffalo News over 20 hours a week and then scrapes together what shifts she can as a waitress for Jack Astors. She is rolling in the dough. The other is the definition of a starving artist. In between his plays and paintings he scrounges up a few shifts as a waiter as well.

It was this situation that I decided to drive six hours and spend four days in rather than sitting in my comfortable, clean, amenity filled home. It’s amazing what one will do to spend time with another. I have always been one of those people that was in the mindset that if one can make money they should and those that put forth no effort and live in poverty were crazy, vaive and to be honest it annoyed me. Little did I know that my view was about to not simply be proven wrong, but lead to one of the biggest shocks of my life about how off I could be on something I felt so adament about.

I started off the trip by meeting Lena at Jack Astors as she was working one of her multitude of night shifts. I sat around, ordered some food and drinks and relaxed while she finished up. We then went back to her place, got around and spent a night walking around the town. 4 hours later we stumbled back to pass out at 3 a.m. in no condition to care about the condition of the home.

This is similar to how we would go about spending the next four days. We walked around town, went to a free concert held every Thursday in what is called the “Square”, spent nights playing cards, twister and catchphrase. Before I realized I was even there I had to leave and found myself thinking of anything I could do to delay parting ways. I did not once notice the horrors that existed in that apartment in the forms of mold and lack of basic utilities.

It was then that I truly realized. There is something to be said for scraping by on the seat of your pants. Every day was an adventure filled with finding random ways to spend time or get food or even take a shower. It was a four days of just enjoying being with people rather than worrying about everything else. The truth is that the majority of what we have we don’t need. Cliché I know, but I don’t simply mean we don’t need them. I mean lacking more can lead to experiencing everything else in new ways. Before this trip I had not gone more than a day or two without the internet and it wasn’t until I got home after nearly five days that it even crossed my mind. I was so caught up in spending time with these people and simply enjoying being alive that the rest of the world, even the room around me was a blur, but the people in front of me, the times we spent, I saw more clearly than ever before and it was a truly amazing experience. I can now say that the truth about living in poverty, it can be one of the greatest experiences of your life.

People will say “you were there for four days, you don’t know what it’s like to be poor” and that’s ok. These people I stayed with were by far literally the poorest people I have known. They had simply enough money to afford rent split between two people in a ramshackle apartment and if given the opportunity I would move in with them tomorrow. It’s this knowledge that makes me know I am justified in saying that, beyond being so poor that you may actually die, having no money can actually be an exhilarating and fun experience.

A Trip to the Cinema

Now some of you may not have the luxury that I do of a cheap night at the local theatre, where one can purchase a ticket to any showing for the low price of $5, but I am glad to say that I do. This makes movies easily affordable to attend. Why am I saying this? Well because people often question why and how I go to the movies so often and I figured that price would be a good place to start.

So to the point of this blog. As I just mentioned I am often questioned about my movie watching and the reasons for it. Granted a lot of the questions/criticism I get for my hobby are due to the movie selections that I take part in viewing. I must admit when it comes to movies I will watch almost anything in theatres. For example one of my latest movies: "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past". I have even seen movies the likes of "The Devil Wears Prada", "The Lake House", "Doogle" (by far my least favorite movie ever), and even "The Notebook". That’s not to say that those are the only movies I watch. I see everything in theatres. Whether it be some action packed blockbuster, a random Indie film, a good old fashioned comedy or yes even the afore mentioned "chick flick" I will watch them all. Thus the questions of why would I watch a movie that, even before stepping into the cinema, I feel is going to be terrible. The answer is very simple. No matter the movie, good or bad, it’s going to be a fun experience.

This is where so many people have lost it these days. Sure it’s great to go see a movie that instantly becomes your favorite movie of all time (Elizabethtown for me), but that can't happen every time. The question is does this matter and the answer is a resounding no! To explain I shall use the movie "Doogle". For those who don't know, and I hope that’s a lot of you because boy was it bad, "Doogle" is an animated movie starring a bunch of animal characters. Another one of those classic scenario little kid movies and all. Or so I thought going into it. 45 minutes after sitting down I found myself sitting in my seat begging for even the slightest punch line at which I would be able to muster even the slightest of chuckles. Then another 45 minutes had passed, the credits were rolling and the occasion still had not arisen. Instead I was left with the heart-sinking knowledge that I had just witnessed not only the least funny animated movie of all time but also possible the worst overall movie I had ever paid to see.

At first glance that experience should have been terrible. I should have walked out of the viewing room, demanded my money back and gone home grumbling about the hour and a half of my life that I had just wasted and would never get back. What I have yet to mention however, is that I was not alone in the viewing of this atrocity. Joining me in the witnessing of mans' worst creation since the clothing styles of the 80's were my brother and a friend. Together we watched in horror as animated movies everywhere screamed in agony. Then we got up, went outside, looked at each other and started laughing hysterically at what we had just bared witness to. We spent the next three hours reliving the movie piece by piece in all of its horrendous glory and enjoying every minute of that 180 minute recap of a movie that only ran about 120 minutes. Still to this day we talk about it and laugh together. This movie, this terrible piece of garbage that one can only assume was found lying abandoned in a trash can somewhere, led to hours of joy and bonding

So, now that I have rambled on for far too long, my point in a nutshell. Some of the best times can be found in experiencing terrible things. While my viewing of "Doogle" will always remain as the worst movie I have ever seen it will also be an experience that I am glad to have. Going to the movies is not about what movie you see. It's not about witnessing a masterpiece. It's about getting out of the house, spending time with friends and loved ones. It's about getting a chance to escape from reality for an hour rather than sitting at home and worrying about your bills, grades, job or whatever might be going on in ones life. The cinema is about the opportunity and experience, the setting and the overly buttered popcorn. The content of the movie itself is just an added plus (or in the case of "Doogle", an added brightly colored screen to stare at). And anyone not willing to pay $5 for this or failure to understand how I am willing to do so has yet to see movies in this way. So next time you have a chance to go see a movie, do it. But this time instead of simply going and sitting there judging it on how funny, scary, sad etc. that it is focus instead on the experience. Make a night of it. Get dinner, go shopping or even just grab a coffee after. Talk about the movie. Enjoy the fact that instead of sitting at home watching re-runs of Seinfeld for three hours you are out with friends, experiencing something together that you will be able to relive over and over.