Now that my daughter, Olive, has figured out how to access the Public Library’s computer system from home – it is not uncommon for us to go by the library on a daily basis for her to run in and grab her reserved books. There have been times that I’ve suggested we skip it and go another day.

“But, Mommy. The library is my Happy Place.”

“Well, actually…the Bee Hive is my Happy Place. The Library is my second Happy Place.”

Right.

How the heck can I argue with that?

And, honestly, those are two of my Happiest – indoor – Places too. Bee Hive being first of course.

When I was in college I spent hours in The Stacks. Hiding away among the cool, countless shelves of  books – I think I did homework? It is perhaps the reason I was an English major – just so I’d have a reason to be absorbed by the library. I then later worked in the library. And always was the first to volunteer to shelve. I much rather interact with the books then my fellow students. The books offered comfort and flow. The fellow students – not really at all.

I am aware on a constant basis that the Bee Hive is a Happy Place for potentially many people – primarily of the kid variety.

When parents are trying to get their kids to leave and maybe the kids aren’t ready to  – they are in a state of complete absorption – and maybe the kids get upset and refuse to leave using their own abilities, so maybe the parents have to pick up the kids and physically drag them out of the store. And it may be that the kids are screaming. That has maybe happened once or twice.

Who wants to ever leave a Happy Place? A place where you feel totally comfortable and present.

I totally get it though. They have found a Happy Place. And who wants to ever leave a Happy Place? A place where you feel totally comfortable and present.

I have moments when the Bee Hive is a source of complete and utter anxiety. How am I going to pay the rent? How will I cover the taxes? Is that check going to clear? It is often in the depth of the night that this anxiety comes on. And then, the next morning I walk in the store, I breath in the smell of the books and am embraced by the bright energy. I immediately feel at ease in my Happy Place, and I know – all will be okay.

Because Happy Places carry the responsibility of not letting their people down. Of being around the corner when you need them to be. Of providing sanctuary and relief from the rest of the world. Happy Places aren’t allowed to go away.

Olive is very much her own person. But she and I definitely share Happy Places in common. And I am in full support of having specified Happy Places – even if that means taking daily trips to the Public Library. That Olive has places where she feels at ease and joyful and totally present is a huge blessing.

We gotta fight for the Happy Places.

Without them – there would just be a bunch of ordinary places.