Therapy?

Imagine if you will, that happiness can be stored in a bottle, tastes like heaven (or Kickapoo, whatever), and you can replenish it at will.

If I had that, every morning I would take a sip from it, and spread joy wherever I go. I would say hi to all my friends and colleagues, go about my day in deluded optimism, with total confidence and conviction in my decisions, muse aloud about the beauty and wonder of living, pet animals, plant trees, give to the poor, and wish that all my friends could see me as I am now.

I would sip from the cup of good cheer, dance the dance of life, play the banjo of goodwill, consume the salmon of doubt, and sing the song of freedom. I would live each day like a cliche, to the fullest, and as if it were my last. My closest friends would bask with me in my full glory, and my worst enemies better beware.

I would tell everyone I love them.

At last, before I lay my weary head to rest, I kiss the bottle for a fantastic day spent, and look forward to a better tomorrow, every single day… until the day I expire.

Alas, happiness does not exist yet in pre-bottled forms. I mean, even if they did, they’d probably be sold out too. So I have to make do with other, alternative, more accessible means. Something else which would give me the same effect as… happiness in a bottle.

Glad I got my booze.

Play something on the stereo. Anything. Something nice, preferably with a baroque section. Mind I make a suggestion? The Used’s "The Bird and the Worm."

Just have a song playing in your head right now.

There’s a song for every waking moment. A theme for every occurrence beneath the stratosphere. A song for each of our own dramas, comedies, our tragedies… and they are played, enacted and edited for public consumption, as sure as we are stars of our own TV show nobody else knows about.

And it plays in your head. Like an earworm that will not get out. You decide what songs you want in and out of your little show.

And you wonder what it’s like… like a wrestler who has his own theme everytime he makes an entrance, as he marches gallantly down the ramp.

And you wonder what song MTV will play for you when you star in their reality series. Will they play something that irks you, interests you, defines you?

And you wonder if one day someone will name a song after you, and make a hit of it, to stamp your name in immortality.

We all need a song sometime.

A sweeping orchestral movement, a crunchy metal riff, an operatic voice reaching for the high notes in a foreign language, an ominous cello solo, a ballad of dreams, a popular sing-along.

When you wake up. When you rush to work. When you get into trouble. When you get mad and even. When you save the day with your heroics. When you kiss, and when you sigh. When you feel pensive and reflective. When you run, far far away from it all.

The soundtrack of our lives.

What song is playing in your head right now?