I love music and it is one of the most important parts of the Good Life for me. I grew up in a family of musicians and my mother was always playing guitar and violin around the house and at family get-togethers. I even remember being on stage during one of the concerts her band played when we lived in Eugene, Oregon. I was only 5 or 6 years old then but I still recall the impression and even some of the songs of the musical scene there. The most significant of my memories of music in Oregon was of that at the Country Fair. It was a festival of music and art where there was music playing constantly while people walked on stilts ten feet high playing guitar.

I began taking piano lessons after moving to New York when I was 6 and continued to throughout elementary and part of middle school. That the foundation I use to create music, which is more of a passion than absorbing the music of my favorite artists, including Frank Zappa, Umphrey’s Mcgee, the Grateful Dead and all kinds of hip-hop music. I have been playing guitar and bass guitar over the last few years with friends from Breezy Point, but recently I have been drawn to creating my own hip hop beats.

If I could live the Good Life I would be producing my own beats along with all other kinds of music played live with real instruments. I would allow all of my friends and family to join my entourage and contribute any musical or artistic talent they wish.

          Recently I noticed how much I enjoy moments that are so funny they cause uncontrollable laughter.  Life would be so dull without laughing all the time with my friends and the sense of carefree happiness it gives me.  Is it the same for everyone or is that just me?  It turns out there is scientific data that proves laughter is in fact important for mental and even physical well being.  An article from helpguide.org reads:

Laughter activates the chemistry of the will to live and increases our capacity to fight disease. Laughing relaxes the body and reduces problems associated with high blood pressure, strokes, arthritis, and ulcers. Some research suggests that laughter may also reduce the risk of heart disease. Historically, research has shown that distressing emotions (depression, anger, anxiety, and stress) are all related to heart disease. A study done at the University of Maryland Medical Center suggests that a good sense of humor and the ability to laugh at stressful situations helps mitigate the damaging physical effects of distressing emotions.  Laughter will:

• reduce stress
• lower blood pressure
• elevate mood
• boost immune system
• improve brain functioning
• protect the heart
• connect you to others
• foster instant relaxation
• make you feel good

          All of the best moments that I remmember with friends and family that make me happy everyday all involve laughter.  I’ll be sure to have a sense of humor to enhance my pursuit of the Good Life.

          One of my biggest dreams for my future is to be able to travel the world.  I’ve always been interested in all of the different cultures around the world and have wanted to experience them first hand.  Both of my parents traveled alot around the United States by car and I’ve taken road trips coast to coast with both of my parents a few times.

          I would love to share all of the different views of the world with people in different countries.  Theres always something to learn from sharing a new perspective, witnessing amazing natural beauty, or experiencing a tradition from another culture, like the  Lantern Festival in Taiwan.  I feel a sense of satisfaction and even a thrill from spontaneously leaving town with friends to go on a road trip or even a flight to visit family in Maryland.

          Traveling also represents my ideal lifestyle and my interpretation of the good life.  When I get in a plane I feel like I am entering the unkown, a new place with new possibilties and experiences, it reminds me of the oportunities always being opened up at new stages in life and even every day.

          I came across many different types of sites.  It seemed that all of the sites either wanted payment for a product that would guarantee success or asked you to join a religion.  I was surprised by one sight that looked like a financial business from its advertisement on Google (seen below), but is actually a religious site that, after reading a long story about the life struggle of the CEO of a pool company, asks to to convert to Christianity simply by clicking a link!  This is just an example of one part of a large commercial interest in peoples curiosity about the meaning of success.

          I believe that success is something unique to each person.  The curiosity everyone feels about what success is in their life is natural because people are meant to search for what they want to do in life and, when they figure it out, try to achieve what they want.  It is wrong for businesses with commercial interests to profit off of people searching for success and purpose.

          Last weekend I took a trip to Cornell University, in Ithaca, to visit my friend John.  I was immediately impressed by the all of the brightly lit mansions and town houses that brightened the camus as my friend Blaze and I pulled in.  It wasn’t long before we were having the time of our lives visiting the famous Dairy Bar for dessert after leaning over the railing of the narrow bridge that spans Cornell University’s mini-Niagara falls.

          While eating in the dining hall enjoying my pie-sampler dish including pecan, pumpkin, cherry, and pudding pie I began to wonder how the difference between Cornell and St. Rose related to the Good Life.  I wondered if people who studied there lived a “better life” simply because of their access to state-of-the-art labratory equipment and really good cafeteria food.

          After reflecting on what I had experienced at Cornell and on life back at St. Rose,  I came up with some conclusions about the Good Life.  Although there might be bigger and better things going on at Cornell, I’m happy to be at St. Rose.  I’m grateful to have succesfully made it through high school, considering all of the moving and ups and downs throughout, and be a part of the tiny percent of the world population that has even attended college.  I could do without competing with an entire freshman class of academic geniuses for now.  Plus I’m quite comfortable here, have made tons of friends, and have already had many unique experiences.  I am living the Good Life. 

            Sometimes I wonder why Donald Trump doesn’t just take all of his cash and go on a permanent vacation to one of his private islands, instead of making commercials and starting his own brand of steak.  He definately could if he chose to but he doesn’t.  He probably knows that being carefree is best enjoyed when taking a break from the stresses of everyday life.  Anyone would get eventually bored living in the vacation spot of their choice. 

            What about those people who are aware of things others aren’t, and in a way, have more responsibilities?  Regardless of the tempting image of ignorant bliss and dreariness of everyday responsibilities, it is the bond formed by overcoming hardship that we share between our family and friends that allows us to appreciate letting it all go sometimes…but not forever.

There’s been lots of talk (and blogging) about the “good life” recently, but what about those negative thoughts and feelings that everyone experiences on occasion?  Its easy to judge what the “good life” is based on outward appearance, even the appearance of happiness itself, but how do the negative feelings that don’t always show on the outside effect the true meaning of the good life?

It is fair to say that the popular view of the good life is the possession of wealth and power, but there are exceptions where hardships not visible to the outside world outweigh the outward image of wealth and power to the point were people who seem to be living the “good life” are, in fact, not living it at all.  An excerpt from a medicinenet.com article describes a couple and a panel of teens in this situation:

When Microsoft bought their company, making them instantly rich, Angela thought she’d be able to take it easy. But things only got worse. “We were still caught up in the workaholic lifestyle. We lost a lot of friends and ended up divorced.”

Americans are enjoying the longest economic boom in history — a record 107 months — but this newfound prosperity isn’t bringing us security and happiness. Instead, it’s making people far more anxious. Recent studies indicate that the more you have, the more vulnerable you feel — and the more worries you rack up.

University of Chicago researchers divided 800 teenagers into four groups according to the income levels of the communities in which they lived for one study published in the October 1998 issue of Monitor on Psychology. They found that the wealthier the community, the less happy the teenager.

It seems that the people featured in the article faced more problems the more money they recieved.  Maybe there’s more to the “good life” than money.  It may even prevent one from enjoying the “good life” in certain circumstances.  Not to say that one cannot be happy while wealthy, I believe that true happiness comes from within, not the superficial possessions that only money can buy.

On his 40th birthday, Tom Good gives up his job as a draughtsman in a company that makes plastic toys for breakfast cereal packets as he is no longer able to take his job seriously. Their house is fully paid for, so he and his wife Barbara make a decision to live a sustainable, simple and self-sufficient lifestyle while staying in their beloved home in The Avenue, Surbiton. In pursuit of this good life, they dig up their front and back gardens and convert them into allotments, growing soft fruit and vegetables. They introduce chickens, pigs (Pinky and Perky) a goat (Geraldine) and a cockerel (Lenin). They generate their own electricity, using methane from animal waste, and they even attempt to make their own clothes. They also work at selling or bartering surplus crops for essentials which they cannot make themselves. They try to cut their monetary requirements to the minimum with varying success.

It is clear that they have cast aside a lifestyle that is considered the norm by society and have shaped their own lives independently to live the “good life.”  Particularly interesting is their ability to live among society while not as an active part of it.

          Media Attack describes the way in which media sources compete for the viewers attention while attempting to deliver as much information as possible.  It is the responsibility of the viewer of these media sources to determine which source is credible and worthy of attention.