This Saturday I was watching fireworks on an abandoned railroad while listening to Radiohead’s Let Down (the choir version) and I couldn’t help but stare. Stare into the flashes of bright lights that was making millions smile around the country. I get it. I do. Watching a fiery stream of light pierce the darkening are has an awe unlike any phenomenon on Earth, which I get because I was smiling too. In fact, I think I love it a bit more than anyone else does because it’s how I fell in love with rocketry.
When I first started my team, I was chasing SpaceX. I was chasing their thrust vectored control which basically looked like it came out of Iron Man when I saw its flames accurately land the entire ship. So trust me, I get it. But as I’ve spent more time launching rockets or in the “pyrotechnics industry” I’ve realized how easy it is to achieve that fiery stream of light. After all, it’s just a little bit of gunpowder with some delays and coloring.
But the simple fact is that just that little combination is bringing smiles to millions of people. Think about it absolutely. Mixing together four chemicals which a 15 year old can do in his house is bringing a smile to millions of people who usually spend their days frowning.
One firework. Millions smiling.
As I sat their on that railroad I couldn’t help but think about this fact. About how it points to an even bigger thing in everybody’s life. The fact that, it’s easy to be happy.
Now I say this from an extremely privileged perspective, someone is paying for the roof over my head, the food I eat, and there’s people caring for my wellbeing. But I’m talking about others who are like me. The privileged. It’s so EASY for us to be happy.
For the last three months I’ve been fighting this war inside my head. That I wasn’t happy with what I’m doing now, what results I’ve gotten in the past, and where my future might be going. I wasn’t happy in that I wouldn’t reach the promises I made to my five year old self, I wouldn’t match my ambition, I wouldn’t be who I want to be. And there’s nothing wrong with a single word in that sentences, except for two: wasn’t happy. Because while I want to achieve all that I’ve said and more, I want to be happy. I want to be happy in the journey as much as the destination. And I think there are too many who believe that phrase to be oxymoronic.
Yes I want to achieve my dreams. Yes I want to be better. Yes I need to be better right now. But that does not mean I can’t be happy. Nobody said the grind has to be depressing. Nobody said that the journey can’t be as joyous as the destination. Especially for us, the privileged, we should appreciate every single thing in every aspect of our lives. Because appreciating doesn’t mean we’re not chasing.
I’ll end this message with a poem I’ve read today in “Pillow Thoughts” by Coutrney Peppernell:
People should fall in love more. Fall in love with the look your dog gives you when you wake up. Fall in love with the waiter who gives you extra chili fries. Fall in love with sweaters in winter and cold lemonade in summer. Fall in love with talking to someone until 4 a.m. Fall in love with the stars when they look at you. Fall in love with the bus if it’s on time or the train if it comes early. Fall in love with everything possible.
TLDR: Fall in love with life.