You can’t convince me that there is a single comic strip that is better than Calvin and Hobbes. The interactions between Calvin and his tiger companion are splendid, the artwork is fantastic, and the themes and storylines are wonderful. When Bill Watterson retired in 1996, it was, in my opinion, a great loss; heck, when it happened, I was still reeling from the loss of The Far Side.

What I really love the most about Calvin and Hobbes is the basic philosophy behind the strip… or, at least, what I see as the basic philosophy behind it.. Calvin, the impulsive, creative, hyperactive kid with the imagination that runs overtime, knows that there is much more to life than school, work, and dealing with your parents. While Hobbes, on the other hand, reminds Calvin that those other things are important too. What’s important to me is keeping up with your responsibilities while not forgetting to actually live your life, enjoy it, and have fun with it.

Life, I think, is meant to be enjoyed. After all, when you get right down to it, what else is there to do with it? In the words of the immortal sage Bugs Bunny, "Don’t take life too seriously; after all, you’ll never get out of it alive."

I’m puzzled by people who say that life is drudgery, that it’s meant to be drudgery, that life is meant to be endured, and so on. It makes me wonder what they’re waiting for. Something that I had to learn is that the life I’m living right now is my life, not a dress rehearsal for something else. Making plans is good, preparing for the future is important, and setting and achieving goals is important as well. But while your goals are coming to fruition, you need to realize that your life is still going on.

"Life", my mother told me once (quoting someone else I’m sure but I don’t know who), "is what happens to you while you’re making other plans.

So. Enjoy your life. Take advantage of what the world has to offer and do the best you can to improve yourself and the world around you, while never forgetting to enjoy what you have and be grateful for the gifts that you’ve been given.

Enjoying life is often a choice that you have to make. It is, in fact, something I struggle with every day. However, I have known some people (have even dated some of them) who seem determined to make life a wretched experience; even if you have all of the riches that you want, all of the friends you can possibly have, and everything you think you desire, you can still choose to be angry, miserable, or sad (though if you do, you probably won’t have that many friends after all, thereby further justifying your angry feelings about life). The fact that enjoying life is a choice is the only explanation I have for why I can see very rich people can be miserable, or why some very poor people can be so happy. Research, in fact, has shown that one’s enjoyment of life is pretty much independent of material wealth. (Remember that bit of dialogue from A Christmas Carol: "Merry!" (said Scrooge) "Why right have you to be merry? You’re poor enough!" "What right have you to be miserable?" (answered Fred) "You’re rich enough.").

Seize the day, goes the adage. As Calvin would say, don’t just seize the day; seize the day and throttle it.

I’m not advocating being selfish, being a hedonist, or ignoring the pain and suffering that pervades our world every day; I’m advocating making the choice to make the most of your own life, which means enjoying it as best you can (which, in my opinion, does involve helping alleviate some of the pain and suffering in the world).

On a more practical note, I’ve recently turned 32 years old. This is a pretty good age; still young enough to seriously plan a backpacking trip to Europe (though I doubt I’ll ever be too old for that), but old enough to know what my priorities and responsibilities are. In about 7.75 years I’ll turn 40 and probably begin a new stage in my life. Recognizing that, I’ve made a list of things I plan to do before I turn 40:

Until next time, of course, I remain,
Your obedient and humble servant,
Richard