Is being happy good enough?

I watched an episode on Oprah the other day where her guest was a man who realized that all the stuff he had accumulated was not actually making him any happier than before he added it to his life.  He was a young director who after seeking Hollywood success for years in the film industry, finally made his directorial acclaim with the movie, Liar, Liar, featuring Jim Carey. 

He went from a small paycheck before Liar, Liar, to the largest amount of money he had ever seen, practically over night.  He continued to direct hit movies and make big money and buy more things... homes, cars, planes.  The last home he bought was a 17,000 square foot mansion.  The  last movie he directed, however, was about selling that home and the other two he owned as well.  Tom Shadyac asks his audience and the spiritual and intellectual leaders interviewed in his recent documentary about the state of our world.  What are we to do with the way we are amassing goods while feeling more and more empty?

I find that a perfect question for our time.  And I am looking forward to viewing Tom Shadyac's documentary, "I Am" when I get home from my trip to Wyoming.

 
But for now I find myself pondering another subject discussed between Oprah and Mr Shadyac that day.    They both talked of living into expectations of a family, culture or media and not living one's own personal passion.  Oprah said that if you are doing something you really aren't passionate about doing a little part of you dies.  Mr. Shadyac said that he loves to make films, especially films that inspire, delight or teach.  Oprah said she wants to raise peoples awareness about many things... especially the unity of us all.  She says that is why she has redeemed victims of abuse, bullying and shame showcased on her talk show.  She wants others in the same situations to realize that hope for a full life exists and has happened for many.

It made me ponder in this way:  I find myself happier than I think I have ever been.  I love all things domestic and making our home a showcase of the experiences of my life that have moved my heart.  I love to paint and take pictures and sew and exercise and hum and cook and plan parties and grow roses, and even clean.  But how in the world is that inspiring anyone else?  I'm certainly not asking the big questions like Tom Shadyac or building schools in Africa like Oprah.... so what am I doing to make this life better?

Then it struck me... not like the two-by-four over the head thing ... more like a gentle whisper from the life that I love.  It is not so much about what I am doing as it is about who I am being.  If I try to be Oprah or Tom, or Mother Teresa or whomever, then I am not being me.  There is nothing more influential that I can give the world than me, especially the happy authentic me who loves to clean toilets and cook omelets early in the morning. Although not both at the same time.

Being who I am is the greatest gift I can give to anyone or any nation or any globe.

I'm not saying that action is not necessary.  It is.  If we did not have action motivated from an authentic heart we would not have Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. or my neighbor who volunteers at a soup kitchen daily.  But action without the passion that Tom and Oprah were referring to is dead - it's void of authentic influence and inspirational power.
So I guess I'll continue to sew and hum and bounce the grand kids on my knee.  Our globe will be better for it.