Update: I was also tagged in this by Gamers United, so I wanted to include a link to that lovely blog, too 🙂
It’s not a year yet since I was tagged in this by Athena from AmbiGaming, so I…win? Not that there’s a contest hehe.
Anyway…I believe other bloggers were calling this “10 Things That Make Me Happy” or “10 Happy Thoughts,” but I don’t think that’s appropriate for me. I’ll try to explain this as best I can, and I hope people won’t see it as something negative or needing pity, but I don’t really do happiness. Like, I’m not a happy person. Now granted, if you ever met me (and of course if I never told you this), you wouldn’t suspect it in the least. I’ve been told I’m very pleasant to be around, which is because I tend to not be social on my bad days. This doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy things in life, nor does it mean I don’t feel things intensely (oh the feels are strong in this one); it’s more like the things I do, I do because they make me feel fulfilled and accomplished like I’m doing something. I write because if I don’t, I won’t be able to get the stories, essays, metas, analyses, etc. out of my head. I blog because I have things to say and the internet allows me to have my own place to say them. It also gives me a medium to display my writing. I play video games because they make me feel like I’m accomplishing something, and I can write about them. I read because I love stories (yes, it really does all come back to stories/writing). I do things that are enjoyable because I’d be less fulfilled and sadder if I didn’t do them, but I can’t say they make me happy, but that’s okay. I don’t know if this is a common trait of people with depression or if it’s maybe an INFJ thing, but the binary of happy/unhappy is fallacious and harmful. Here’s the Oatmeal saying it far better than I ever could.
So! Now that that’s out of the way. Here are my Ten Things That Make Life Worth Living (in no real particular order).
1. Writing
No one should be shocked by this one lol. Writing is my life. I’ve been doing it (albeit poorly) ever since I was five or six, and I’m sure I’ll be doing it up until the day I die. I express myself so much better with the written word, and while I am quite fond of the sound of my voice, writing just makes it much easier for me to think/speak. Please always text me!
2. Reading
They say readers make the best writers, and I used to do it so much more when I was younger and had the time. It’s why last year I read an average of seven books at once to try to up my book count. This year I’ve cut back to four, but it’s one of the tasks that goes on my daily to-do list. Since it’s so integral to writing skill, it’s something I work to keep up with, and I shaped my style from my favorite authors and works.
3. Final Fantasy VII (Video Games)
No surprise here. FFVII quite literally made my life worth living when I first played it, but I can’t discount video games in general, since I wouldn’t have played it had I not been a gamer from a very young age.
4. My Brothers
I have two and they’re both awesome. My older brother, whom I fought with constantly as a kid, is one of my best friends now. I mean I have known him my entire life. Granted when I was born, he wasn’t entirely convinced I was his sister, since I was “too white,” and we were the Brown family (literally…that’s my original last name) 😀
5. My Husband
He puts up with SO much of my crap…like writing and blogging all the time and ignoring him lol. He also does the bulk of the cooking and cleaning since chronically ill me can’t always keep up, and when I do venture to do something, I’m out for the next several hours. I’m not a mushy person (gah, emotions?? WHAT ARE THOSE?!), but I definitely appreciate him.
Well with the above picture in mind…
6. My Cats
I may not be the standard definition of a cat lady yet, but a Narcissist can dream, can’t she? I love my little monsters, and the new little one Princess Garnet is working out so well. She’s trained both me and my husband to be her obedient servants, and that’s really all you can expect. I still miss my fuzzy, orange, old man though ;_;
7. Chill-Inducing Music
I have a playlist on my phone for just such things. I couldn’t imagine life without music in general, and I’m so happy I’m one of those people who experiences ASMR from it. I sang in school choirs until I graduated from college and then joined ones at my job. In my current position/situation, I have no organizational outlet to sing, but I do go to karaoke every now and then. I miss it.
8. Cake
Look, I’m a fat kid and I love cake, specifically yellow or white with vanilla buttercream icing. Offerings are always accepted, and my birthday is coming up 😉
9. Friends
For some strange reason, despite my misanthropic, curmudgeonly ways, people like me. Oh that’s right, I’m great at acting like an extrovert even though it’s exhausting and I’m super empathetic. Though I often proclaim to hate all humans, there are a tidy few of you that I’d be sad to see go up in flames, and of course this includes my blogger buddies. Many of you understand me better about certain things than IRL friends, which is such a weird term, because the internet is real life. I mean, you all exist, right? o.O How do I even know that I exist *loading existential crisis*
10. Sleeping
Peeps. I have a confession to make. I love to sleep. Okay, maybe not love it, more like need to do it a lot for a variety of health reasons, but I love when I have the opportunity and ability to do it when it’s really necessary. I have to have a blanket no matter how hot it might be, because I can’t sleep unless there’s something heavy on me. I want one of those really expensive anxiety blankets, but they’re like $200! I’ve always loved blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals probably for this very reason. Plus I usually have some pretty gnarly dreams, especially since I spend a lot of time in that hypnogogic area between waking and sleep. So many of my ideas have sprouted from that in between state, plus sleeping can be depressed reset button.
So, those are my ten things. Feel free to post your own. No taggies, because it’s late; I’m tired; and I don’t want to be a bugbear. You know what to do if you decide to participate in this activity 🙂
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
Woo! Three cheers for sleep (whenever it happens)!
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Right?? I sometimes go to bed late purposely so that I’ll sleep more through the night. Going earlier isn’t always an advantage.
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Hey! You made it under the year mark! You definitely win! haha This is an excellent list, and I appreciate you playing along with the tag 🙂 It’s been nice to see how high on the lists things like “family” have been.
Oh, emotions. I slightly disagree with some of the things that you said about happiness and being an INFJ, but whatever label you assign, having things that give one a sense of meaningfulness is important in one’s life!!
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You know I’m not really sure it’s an INFJ trait either. I’m not sure WHY I’m like it, but I was pondering that might be it. I know it’s something other personality types experience.
I’m slowly working my way through my tag list. It’s taking a while, but eventually lol.
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Damn good list. I’d add in Interdimensional Space Travel, but I guess that only happens to me.
Oh, and tea. I like tea. But FFVII really had a big impact on me back in 1998,so it’s possibly my favourite ever RPG. Glove that game. Glove it.
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What do we want?
Interdimensional space travel!
When do we want it?
It’s irrelevant!!!
I was drinking tea yesterday evening! I needed something to sooth my sore throat. There’s nothing better than black tea with honey and lemon for that.
FFVII is life(stream).
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Yes! Black tea with other bits is life. As is FFVII.
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FFVII and video games in general (^_^) Oh wait, were there 9 other things? 😛 lol
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Right?? I really didn’t need much else lol.
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I love your list. Sleep is awesome. I do feel like making some sort of joke on existence or maybe saying I’m actually a cat but I won’t.
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I know for certain I’m part cat.
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Thanks for the link to the Oatmeal cartoon strip…that makes a lot of sense to me. I’m not a ‘happy, sunny’ person either….always occupied and busy, I guess. Thinking about it more, I’d rather be fulfilled than ‘happy’…happiness is such a temporary, unstable thing!
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I love his comics. He does mostly silly things,so when he tuns his talent to more serious work, you really pay attention.
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People makes themselves miserable by trying to be “happy”. Just feel what you feel and go with it, eh!
Great list! I’m not sure if I exist, but I do know I connect more with people on the internet than with the people I know IRL 😛
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Right? It’s such a fleeting state, and I think people concentrate so hard on being happy that when they can’t do it, they feel like they’ve failed. I’m much “happier” not worrying so much about being happy.
Existence is overrated. I’ve been floating around in oblivion for a while, and I’m doing very well 😀
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This is a great post! I think I’m going to play along, though it may be a little while before I actually get around to posting it 🙂 I agree with a lot of things on your list. The fact that your older brother wasn’t sure if you were actually his sister made me laugh!! 😉
All in all, I think I’m a pretty simple person when it comes to being happy. I don’t require fancy things! I can relate with you since I am an INTJ… I come across as very extroverted but most of the time, I just want to be left alone LOL!
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It was a lot of fun! It was nice to catalog the good stuff in life.
I have an IRL INTJ friend! We get along really well, too because it’s very close to INFJ. I think the thought patterns are really close and we need the same kind of down time to recharge.
Oh! I was thinking about you the other day. We were at a huge gaming place and they had rows and rows of those machines you can play to get toys. There was one filled with Kirbies 😀
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I hear ya! Too often people focus on the negative, so it’s nice to see something positive!
Yeah, INTJ and INFJ are super close in terms of personality types! I need to recharge quite often, but don’t always get the chance… and that makes me really crabby lol!! 🙂
Aww how cute! I would have totally tried to win a Kirby, even though I suck at those claw machines!
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If I win one, I’ll send it to you! Like seriously, I saw that and was OMG I know who’d love him. They were weird claw machines, too. Like you had to almost push the toys instead of grabbing them, and it could take a few turns. I don’t know how much each credit is worth, but it was eight each time you wanted to play o.O
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Aww that’s so sweet of you to think of me! 😉 Hmm, that does sound kind of weird. They probably make it that way so barely anyone will win!
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It’s interesting because they’re not like the ones you normally see, and you CAN technically win, but it takes quite a few tries.
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Aw, I’m glad Garnet is settling in so well. ❤
If I put together a list like this I think we'd have several of these things in common. 🙂 Writing would be at the top of my list, too.
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We managed to cut her nails today. She wasn’t happy, but I still have my face lol.
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Haha well, that’s good! 😛 It’s always a win if you get to keep your face.
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