In the context of politics, it occurred to me that certain of the leftwing sycophants are so blissfully in lockstep with their movement's (amorphous) creed that they don't stop to sync their euphoria with reality. They actually think they are being "taken care of", not realizing they are "being taken".

In personal relationships, I think it is possible to be blissful without being "blissfully happy". I have seen couples go through the motions of getting married, buying a home, having children, pampering and educating the children, then when the nest is empty, suddenly snapping out of the bliss bubble and looking at each other and thinking "who are you?", followed by each wanting to get the hell out of the other's Dodge. When I look at some of the derelicts on Ken's new political discussion board, and consider the riff-raff that has come and gone in chat board land over the decades, I wonder what kind of life some of these people have had and presently have. Perhaps they started life blissfully with good intentions and fell prey to the devil, or they just had bad genes from the git-go.

As in the case of Miss Mansfield's "Bliss", it seems the bliss bubble eventually bursts, not by gradual realization of the outer world, but by the shock of a single startling trigger. This is most likely followed by denial, rage, detachment, acceptance, resolve, and eventually gratitude for deliverance.

Other than that, I don't have the slightest idea why I zeroed in on the word "Bliss". My mind sometimes says "Here, take this and run with it". Perhaps it is akin to Sir Edmund Hilary's explanation of why he climbed Mt. Everest: "Because it was there".

À bientôt