Kenny Rogers on happiness

Country music doesn't interest me as much anymore, though I like a few songs. During the last two years of high school I became a country music fan, mostly because I had a crush on somebody. In 1982 I saw a Kenny Rogers concert at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. I still love the title track from the album he released that year, Love Will Turn You Around.

One of the announcers today on CBC mentioned Rogers had appeared for an interview on Q recently.

This singer has grown up from poverty to make millions on a stellar career lasting more than 50 years, and he is still active at 72. He has been married five times.

When asked what he needed for happiness, he replied (this may not be precise): "Three things: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to."

Recently I've contemplated the Buddhist idea of non-attachment as a way to rid one's self of unhappiness. The teaching says people are chronically attached to ideas about who they are and how they should live their lives. So these ideas, rather than the reality of our lives, cause suffering.

Frankly, I don't know about that. I like to take non-attachment in small doses as a kind of escape, like when I go for a walk, get lost in a sensual experience of things around me, and maybe forget to think for a few seconds. Invariably I return to thoughts about how to describe the course of a snowflake, what it means for my life, and why, and how to put it into words. I'm a writer, for crying out loud. If I detach myself from ideas, what else is there to say? Sometimes I think they can kill me, but mostly I am drawn to them and love rolling them around in my head, on paper.

Kenny Rogers' little formula makes more sense to me than anything I have heard from any of the major religions for a long time.

I am supposed to be in bed with a book in less than twenty minutes.