Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

It continues to amaze me how words can strike me. How they can reach deep in my heart.  A friend once commented, “You really love words- everywhere I look in your home there are words!” It’s true. I have an affinity for anything printed. I’m obsessed with quotes, fonts and will write words on just about anything. Yesterday I heard words I have heard a hundred of times before. They were written a lifetime ago as a crucial part of our Declaration of Independence. Simple words that changed the world in which we live today. But yesterday, I was apparently ready to comprehend their full meaning as it pertains to ME and my heart!

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

I love the word happy. I love to be happy.  I love even more to make others happy.  I even created a new tense of happy for a book I wrote-happied!  I named my car Happy for goodness sake. Look up the word happy and you might even see my picture!  So when I heard those words written by a group of men some 200+ years ago about the pursuit of happiness I felt as though they were speaking directly to me!

I hope you're not too disappointed with me but this week I did just that … I took the liberty of living my life while pursuing my happiness. Instead of preparing a well thought-out blog, I prepared for my son to return home for the summer from his sophomore year at the University of Alabama. Instead of looking at a blank computer screen I looked at him while we planned our day trip into Philadelphia. Instead of fretting over my lack of blogging responsibility, we downloaded an app and located planets in an amazing nighttime sky!  All in the name of pursuing happiness!

This was a day to remember to treasure, and I will do just that. We paid homage to the Liberty Bell. We toured the hallowed rooms of Independence Hall.

Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA

Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA

We ate and sniffed our way through Reading Terminal Market.

Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, PA

Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, PA

We watched dancers at LOVE Park. We ran the Rocky Steps too! We took a break under a cherry blossom tree in the courtyard of City Hall. We topped the day off with a visit to a local beer garden to toast Ben Franklin!

So this week you get a blog that is posted late, unedited and shorter than normal. On the other hand it is heartfelt as promised and I think includes some pretty cool pictures.

with gratitude to Ben from a very happy,

Moral: Live your life in the pursuit of YOUR happiness- you’ll be oh so glad you did.