2008 Woodie Awards
Dino and the raspberries
Gregory Pratt
Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: Opinions
From last June to New Year's Eve, I began a significant life transformation. Every day was a good day, taken altogether. That isn't to say that there weren't sometimes close calls or that good luck and humanity didn't save me. Once, I was stood up and swore that my streak was over, but then the woman I was to meet called to apologize. We had had a mix-up, and went out three nights later, had a blast, no harm done, but if she hadn't called the streak would've ended because I, like anyone, don't like being stood up (an unfortunate series of events is something else, to be understood and worked around). Another person, who has since gone on to become a good friend of mine, tested me the first time we met with sharp criticism of an article I'd written. It was my first confrontation in college, and it shook me up. But we were on a trip East when the argument took place and other people picked me up throughout the day, so that was just a blip on my radar.
I rode good days for half a year until the New One was to arrive, when a bad night struck. They were relatively minor setbacks, petty, but it is often the little things that make days. To be sure, an engagement or a death in the family are events that can't be ignored, but sometimes it's the tiniest cracks in foundations which collapse the home and the same small ones which hold it. Immediately after my streak ended, I started a new one and have been riding it since. This one has not been as smooth as the other but it has definitely been a good few weeks. A kindred spirit since we met recently asked me, "You think you've had so many good days in a row? What's your secret? An easy disposition?"
I laughed. I don't have an easy disposition, but I am not a brow-beater either. I told him that I simply find pleasure in the world, from the feel of snow to drawings of my favorite stuffed animal, Dino, to those raspberries blown by The Seal in the film "Andre," and I find happiness in creating and absorbing the works of others. Another friend of mine described me as a "James Bond of the Heart" because of what he considers my ability to love and live a million different ways. I accept this (I am eclectic), but there's nothing unique to my self regarding a streak of happiness. I merely make it my effort to observe the world, and while I am a bit of a realist I see an overwhelming amount of beauty and potential on Earth. That's why I have as many projects as I currently have (two films, several works of writing, newspaper and political writing), and work with as many people as I can. It's the key to happiness and success. Love, reason, and action, combined and harnessed.
Everything is a learning experience, and knowledge is power. Failure is life, and the ability to rise from it is power. I only wish that more wonderful, talented people would rid themselves of their inhibitions and fears and take the plunge into a world they long for. Take risks, think for themselves and live on their own terms! I'm only sad that it took help from a dear and teasing friend, and now I am making my own art, as I've always wanted to. Happiness, you see, is not utopia or perfection, but rather drive and passion, interest and action, coupled with common sense and reason. That's why I applaud activists groups I've criticized, lousy philosophers who think, the man who decides that he's going to do what he's always wanted to, and damn it, why not? Harry Truman once said, "I have found the best way to give advice to children is to find out what they want and advise them to do it." So what are you waiting for?
I rode good days for half a year until the New One was to arrive, when a bad night struck. They were relatively minor setbacks, petty, but it is often the little things that make days. To be sure, an engagement or a death in the family are events that can't be ignored, but sometimes it's the tiniest cracks in foundations which collapse the home and the same small ones which hold it. Immediately after my streak ended, I started a new one and have been riding it since. This one has not been as smooth as the other but it has definitely been a good few weeks. A kindred spirit since we met recently asked me, "You think you've had so many good days in a row? What's your secret? An easy disposition?"
I laughed. I don't have an easy disposition, but I am not a brow-beater either. I told him that I simply find pleasure in the world, from the feel of snow to drawings of my favorite stuffed animal, Dino, to those raspberries blown by The Seal in the film "Andre," and I find happiness in creating and absorbing the works of others. Another friend of mine described me as a "James Bond of the Heart" because of what he considers my ability to love and live a million different ways. I accept this (I am eclectic), but there's nothing unique to my self regarding a streak of happiness. I merely make it my effort to observe the world, and while I am a bit of a realist I see an overwhelming amount of beauty and potential on Earth. That's why I have as many projects as I currently have (two films, several works of writing, newspaper and political writing), and work with as many people as I can. It's the key to happiness and success. Love, reason, and action, combined and harnessed.
Everything is a learning experience, and knowledge is power. Failure is life, and the ability to rise from it is power. I only wish that more wonderful, talented people would rid themselves of their inhibitions and fears and take the plunge into a world they long for. Take risks, think for themselves and live on their own terms! I'm only sad that it took help from a dear and teasing friend, and now I am making my own art, as I've always wanted to. Happiness, you see, is not utopia or perfection, but rather drive and passion, interest and action, coupled with common sense and reason. That's why I applaud activists groups I've criticized, lousy philosophers who think, the man who decides that he's going to do what he's always wanted to, and damn it, why not? Harry Truman once said, "I have found the best way to give advice to children is to find out what they want and advise them to do it." So what are you waiting for?
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