This Is Just What I think

The Small, Happy House

I was driving one late night, far out of the metropolitan reach of influence. The two-lane highway within the small bubble of my headlights stretched forever in front me, walled in by the looming but comforting darkness of the trees, fields, and marshes. Then, in the distance, a bundle of lights appeared as I turned a curve in the road. My concrete guidance eventually brought me upon the source of the lights-a small house that sat just off of the highway, decorated in as many Christmas lights as could possibly fit on its surface. It being the holiday season at the time, I was used to seeing such shows of festivity, but this was different. Bright neon blues, yellows, reds and greens went from blurry circles to sharp streams of color among the inky landscape. Now, when I say there was nothing but road and grass and the occasional leafy trunk for miles in either direction, I'm not exaggerating. The stars shone just as bright as flying streetlights out on that lonely road because there was simply nothing to dull them. This little house on this endless highway, well away from any civilization or human contact, was the only thing I had come across in such a long time that the Christmas lights made me squint when I passed. It wasn't until I hit the first somewhat populated service station 30 minutes up the road that I comprehended just how isolated the house was. It got me thinking, and I realized that the people who lived there had drove so far out of their way, bought as many holiday decorations as had pleased them, and put them up knowing that nearly no one would see them. I imagined a cherry-cheeked and wrinkly grandma or grandpa sitting in an old worn-out La-Z-Boy, smiling at the sight of their gleeful setup outside the dusty window, not at all imperiled by the night that surrounded them for a great distance. That image stayed with me well after I left. It reminded me of us in a way, people in general, that is. We all want to make ourselves happy, or at least we tell ourselves we do, but truthfully the reason is other people. When we make decisions, whether we notice or not, we factor in everyone else's opinion on our choice before we even make it. This is pointless, and it only limits what happiness we can have for ourselves. Whoever lived in that little house didn't care that no one would see their work or appreciate the pretty lights they went through all of that time and money assembling. They knew that decorating for Christmas would make themselves happy, and so they did it, not worrying they'd be the only ones to witness it. That's the right way to be, I think, not caring about the approval of the populous when it comes to ourselves. Just do what makes you happy, and if it does its job without harming anyone, then everything's alright.