a few years ago on the recommendation of a friend i picked up tom wolfe’s “the electric koolaid acid test” a fantastic/trippy account of ken kesey and the merry pranksters and their fantastic journey across 1964 America in a ‘39 day-glo painted international harvester bus. their use of hallucinogenic drugs, crazy attire, bizarre street theatre, and musical stylings inspired much of the hippie aesthetic that exploded in the late 60’s. kesey’s ultimate goal was to break through conformist thought and forge a reconfiguration of American society.
though their story did not inspire me to go out and injest any hallucinogens, it did start me down the path toward forging my own “on the bus” philosophy. to embrace my individuality, make a conscious decision to live happy, and work in my own way to reconfigure society.
some days being “on the bus” is a lot easier than others.
still, in the pursuit of an “on the bus” lifestyle i’ve learned a lot about who i am, who i want to become, and how i want to interact with people. i’ve discovered that we tend to rely on circumstances to generate our happiness. relationships, jobs, finances, etc. the problem is that all of these things are more out of our control than we’ll ever admit. that lack of control, and our desire for control, creates stress, robs us of our joy, and gives our circumstances power over our us. i’ve found that refocusing the energy i spent trying to control those external things inward on my own feelings allows me to hang on to my happiness. though i can’t control my circumstances, i can control how i react to those circumstances. when my joy springs first-and-foremost from inside of me, that joy cannot be stolen!
so i’m getting on the bus and going on a crazy adventure… there’s plenty of room for you to join me and we’ll take turns driving… make the conscious decision to live happy!
click for more info on kesey and the merry pranksters.
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