Entry for 1st December, 2007

Fish Face's comment which I was talking about in my last entry has left me in philosophical mode. She was asking whether we should live for today, or whether we should worry about what people think about us - after all if we're gone when we die, why should we concern ourselves about our legacy (unless we are Tony Blair).
Interesting stuff and spoken like a true Libertine. Are all morals just a social construct; no more than a Will-o-the-Wisp shifting depending on when and where we live? Shouldn't we just do our own thing and grasp happiness wholeheartedly with two hands?
I don't know the answer. I think we should try to be happy (although personally I think that a bit of a miserable mood now and again is much under-rated - if Bono had been happy go lucky then U2 would have written "Brilliant! I've Just Found What I'm Looking For!") I suppose what I was trying to say in my entry a couple of days ago was that happiness is not often to be found at the bottom of a shopping bag. I think we are often sold a myth by advertisers that the next gadget, or car, or CD, or Trip to Alton Towers is exactly what we need to make us happy. And it might do for a little while. But it's rare for the buzz to last.
It's like the feeling you got as a kid when you got that toy that didn't live up to expectations. In my case it was the Evel Kinevil stunt bike - on the ads it lept over tall buildings, but in real life it just scuttled along the carpet then fell over with its back wheel spinning. I still feel that way about some stuff that I buy.
The things that tend to leave me feeling happier are nights out drinking with friends; a quiet night in with friends and family; and getting engaged in something that absorbs my attention.