As Happy as a Clam

Teach a man to shuck an oyster so he can better pleasure his wife, teach a man to shuck an oyster so that he can understand the simple pleasures in life. For I believe it is satisfaction we chase and not blind happiness. 

The feeling of a job well done, the pop and release.

Like a child we stumble for happiness, for a cure to boredom. But do we know what makes us happy? Perhaps others know better than us and this is the control.

Life has an innate sadness and difficulty, these should not be hid from. This is the experience.

Happiness is a greedy child who gluttons on candy while his parents aren’t looking. Happiness is the devout preacher who lectures oversimplifications in ignorance of life’s underlying mysteries. Happiness is a self-satisfied vegan who answers the question of sustainability and animal morality with the lack of blood on their plate, regardless of the industrial requirements and long term consequences of heavily processed food. 

I see my efforts to eat morally as no more noble. This is perhaps the arena where most of us struggle. I see a path towards more sustainable food, but it comes with bitter truths. It depends on ruminants(grazing livestock), shellfish, and big picture thinking with a return to natural systems focused on responsible land management. 

If we can accept that life subsists on other life, we can better align on productive conversations away from over industrialized and monopolized food systems. 

I don’t want to be as happy as a clam, I want to understand.