Happiness and Contentment brought to you by my Chickens

My name is Mim and I am the proud owner of 5 chickens; Fat Beatrice and Elsie May my Heritage Light Sussex, Paloma the Araucana, Meiying and Zhen Zhen my Pekin bantams and last but not least Ania, my Polish spectacle (as featured)! I have learnt a lot about human evolutionary underpinnings from my chickens, as one does, but last weekend my chickens taught me a lesson, one lesson I never expected to learn from a creature with the brain the size of a pea whose sole focus in life is how much bread it can fit in its beak before it chokes… Yes, I know what you are thinking… this girl is going to die single and alone but just hear me out….

Now don’t get me wrong, I love my hens, but I do believe it fairly safe to say they are not the wisest of animals! In fact, based on much observation of their behaviour, I think I can safely say they have all of 5 thoughts throughout the day; “food, nest, lay egg, scratch, and sleep” (with the occasional “who is this funny girl bothering me and giving me cuddles? Oh look, she has food!”) And yet, also based on my contemplation of their behaviours, it seems to me they are the most content of all my animals. This led me to thinking “why are my chickens so happy?” Was it that fresh banana bread I gave them as a treat last week? Or perhaps the fresh straw they get in their nests each week? Perhaps their scratch mix has a little additive I don’t know about? I mean what else is there in their little house that could possibly provide so much contentment, if it were not for those additional comforts I bring them each day?

Even I, in my own working physical form, am not enough for me

A clever man named Epicurus once said “Nothing is enough for the person for whom enough is too little” and I realise now (through the simple contemplation of my chickens’ existence) that enough may be too little for me and that because of this I may never be satisfied, content or happy in my pursuit for more…

In these first 24 years of my life it seems I have learnt, through society and education and work and family and friends and strangers, that enough is never enough. That the attainment of more brings purpose, happiness and satisfaction – more money, more accolades, more talents, more people working underneath you, more gadgets, more friends, more clothes, more chickens, more things… Even I, in my own working physical form, am not enough for me! I am not content or grateful for the fact that I have two legs and arms in perfect working order, a face with two eyes, a nose and a mouth also in perfect working order and brain that does some pretty cool and intelligent things (most of the time!). Even this ‘enough’ is too little and I want more…. To be more beautiful, more intelligent, more creative, more active, have more money, more accolades, more talents, more people working underneath me, more gadgets, more friends, more clothes, more chickens, more things… When I finally have all this though, will I then be content? Certainly not according to Epicurus…

So that’s just it, isn’t it…? The acceptance of ‘enoughness’ in my dear chickens’ existence (along with the possibility that they have only those 5 thoughts a day) perhaps is the reason why my hens are so very happy. Perhaps it is time that we stop putting all our energy into trying to attain those ‘more things’ that we have so alarmingly attached the assumption of happiness to, and start focusing on what it is we have already, on those ‘enough things’? And yes it may be less than what others have, it may only be one egg a day, a scratch of straw or a peck of bread but it is enough…and there it is…happiness and contentment brought to you by my chickens.

Perhaps it is time that we stop putting all our energy into trying to attain those ‘more things’ that we have so alarmingly attached the assumption of happiness to, and start focusing on what it is we have already

By Meredith Young-Whitford