Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-02
How They Avoid Having the
"Blues"

aOW IHey AVO1u having the
"Blues."
From the American Farmer.
Every human being, man, woman ana
child, suffers occasionally from what they
call the blues No matter how happy the
temperament as general thing, a time
comes in the life of each person when the
blue devils" get the upper hand What
the French call 'ennui'' affiicts all of US
occasionally, and many find low spirits,
boredom, melancholy the chief bane of ex-
istence. But the lower animals evidently
do not suffer at all in this way. Birds and
beasts. as well as the insects. manage to
pass through life without succumbng to
what almost crazes their more intelligent
superiors. Loafng, or chronic idleness, as
every one knows, is the most fruitful
source of misery, and lack of occupa ton is
the sure breeder of despc ndency. The other
animals, however do not loaf. Loafing is an
art which few living creatures understand.
Lizards, crocodiles and other saurians seem
to have mastered the philosophy of being
IaboriouSly idle without idle results, but
there is nothing to indicate that they suf-
fer from "the blues" The art appears to
consist in the fact that animals have ac-
quired the knack of making much ado
about nothing they have learned to be very
busy without doing anything. But obvious
ly this accomplishment differs from what
among men is called loafing. 1t is one
which animals have brought to perfection.
and by knowing how to eliminate the hor-
rorS of ''ennui'' they obtain from life the
maximum of happiness Some human be-
ings, chiefly women, also succeed in mas
tering this art of pottering and time-con-
Stunning, though nothing really is being
done. Old men. too. sometimes exhibit the
same trait. Washington Irving remarks
that one of the compensations of old age
is that it allows one to be idle with i'm
punity and without reproach. The aged
rise early and are eternally "petering
around In an aimless way, busily occupied
in doing nothing of consequence.
Watch wasp overhead busily exploring
the holes in the trunk of a tree. Why he
does this he probably does not know; he has
no time to stop and think. He is quite con-
tent to explore away though his lie de-
pended upon it, and will inspect over and
over again every portion OF the same mole
All this labor is useless in a sense, but 1t
apparently constitutes the wasp's taste,
without which 1t would in all probability
die of what men call low spirits Many
other creatures are equally expert at frlt-
tering away time They spend much OF
their time in futile dalliance. Note a canary
in a cage. He hops backward and forward
. between two perches as though he was paid
by the distance for doing so. LOOK at a
butterfly. He leads an aimless existence
but manages to keep busy all the time and
Hembodies the very perfection of the JOY OF
living. A bee visits more flowers than
butterfly but his trips are for business,
while the other seems to have no other op-
ject than to keep moving. The farmer ana
the farmers wife suffer more or less from
worry They have their cares, their trou-
bles their anXietes of q thousand KINDS
which often eventuate in horrible and long
continued fits of the blues" Not so the
animals around them. There Is no de-
spondency in chandeliers crow or blddy
lively cackle The cows and horses are al
WAYS cheerful, always in good spirits and
have no trouble killing time" Unless Ill
or injured some way they are never de-
spondent. Perhaps mans very superiority
causes much of his misery. Perhaps he
would be happier If he was not endowed
with reason, If he did not think The much
Wanted happiness of children is evidently
the bliss of ignorance. They have not yet
reached the age of worry which comes with
thinking The lower animals never reach
this stage and their lives are free from
care, from regret for the past or worry TOT
the future There is nothing good or PAD
hut thinking makes II So" remarks the mel
anchoIy Hamlet. We think ourselves into
most of our unhappiness, while the animals
NOT possessing this faculty escape its most
fruitful source of misery. The philosophy
of il all would seem to be that man either
knows too little or he knows too much. do
not the lower animals prove the truth OF
tha old maxim that Ignorance is bliss!
~ 60 Is II not folly to be wise and is 1t not
questionable If civilization, after all, brings
nc any nearer to the much-desired but ever
Elusive entity called happiness?