Be Fucking Happy
Happy Monday dear friends.
If you’ve been reading for a while, you’ve probably noticed something different this morning. Rather than getting an email from Do Your Best, Fuck the Rest; you are now getting an email from Be Fucking Happy. If you’re new here, HI!
The original title came from a line in my first book I Wanna Be Well: How a Punk Found Peace and You Can Too. The point I was trying to communicate is that we can free ourselves by doing our best, but remaining unattached to the results. Results exist in the future, our best exists right now. For all we know, the future might not even happen, and even if it does it will likely look very different than what we expect. The idea is that we should do our best, because doing our best is the result and the reward in and of itself. We often think of Karma as a result, something that happens later, because of something we do now. In fact the word Karma just means action. So the result and the action are the same thing, and they exist in the only moment that actually exists: the present moment.
When I started this newsletter, I felt that statement more or less communicated what it is I wanted to teach people. Do your best, fuck the rest. However, over time, I’ve come to realize that statement needs a bit of explanation and back story to hold the weight that it is intended to hold. So I got to thinking, why do we do our best? Why do we practice non-attachment to results, and present moment awareness? Why do we do anything at all? It’s very simple.
We want to be happy.
This of course means different things, to different people, at different times. There’s not one set way to be happy, however, there are some universal principles that can help us all on our path. Doing our best is one of those. Non-attachment is another. Connection to the present moment is another. Over my many years of practice and study of world philosophies I’ve found some truths that seem to work across the board. The teachings are the same, the way they are presented can be very different. This newsletter is my way of presenting these lessons in a language I can relate to. I hope you can relate to it as well.
Let’s take books like the Tao Te Ching or Everyday Zen for example. There are many great lessons to be learned there, a lot of truths that can help us be happier. Is the average punk rocker going to go anywhere near those fucking books? Probably not. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE those books, but it was a kicking and screaming kind of scenario.
Also don’t get me wrong, this newsletter isn’t just for punks, people who listen to certain types of music, or identify with any specific culture or subculture. All of that is just surface stuff anyway. This newsletter is for people who want to be happier, and who don’t mind some humor and assorted swear words sprinkled into their reading diet. If you’re offended by words such as fuck, shit, dickhole and fart factory, this might not be the newsletter for you. On the other hand, if you’re offended by such words, you probably didn’t read this far anyway. Shit, you probably didn’t even make it past the title of the newsletter before going on with your life. That’s cool.
If you have read this far, thank you very much. It’s my sincere hope in life that my work can be helpful to others. If you know me in real life, or if you’re read either of my books (second book drop here: The Death of You: A Book for Anyone Who Might Not Live Forever), you’re aware my journey has been filled with a lot of death, loss and suffering. Yet, I’m generally speaking, pretty happy.
How can a guy who watched his mother die of cancer be happy? How can a guy whose only sister was killed in a car accident be happy? How can a musician whose best friend and drummer died unexpectedly, be happy?
I practice.
I practice seeing the good in life, even when it’s obscured. I practice calming my mind so I can connect to a deeper part of myself. I practice self-study, and meditation. Most of all, I practice helping others. This newsletter is an extension of that practice. One where I share ideas, thoughts and practices that I believe can be of use to others. Thank you for being a part of my practice. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of yours. I sincerely hope something in this newsletter can be helpful.
Things are pretty fucked up right now, but with practice, we can see the other side. We can see that it’s not about what is happening, rather it’s about how we relate to it. We’re in this together.
Dear friends thanks for reading. Paid subscriptions are still $5/month or $50/year. We’ve all probably spent more than that on tacos before. Sharing also helps, as does gifting subscriptions.
Anyway, here’s the buttons for all of that. Click accordingly.
Your support helps so much. I deeply appreciate it. I hope that my writing can be helpful in return. I hope each and every day we can all find something, anything to be happy about. No matter how fucked up things can get, our ability to be happy cannot die, it lives in us even when we can’t see it. That’s it for now. I’ll talk to y’all later this week.
Be Fucking Happy.
xoxox,
M