Needs

An IM conversation with exthesuccubus prompts me to think about what I need in order to be content. Leaving out long-terms I want to accomplish before I die, what do I need for day-to-day happiness?

• Personal space. Secure, reasonably spacious, undefiled by any one else’s stuff or notions of organization.
• Time alone. Around an hour’s worth a day, and, from time to time, a block of time from 6 hours up to a whole weekend spent without anyone disturbing me or making me feel guilty for ignoring them. This is when I obsess on personal projects.
• Outdoor space. I need to be able to walk outside and smell clean air and see green things and birds and small mammals. Private green space is better.
• Hills/mountains. Believe it or not, a large part of my level of happiness is directly attributable to how far I have to go to find a hilltop where I can look out over miles of (non-citified) land, receding away into the distance.
• The means and freedom to occasionally jump in the car, or hop on a plane, and take weekend trips on a moments notice.
• Sufficient spending money to, in a given month, buy a few CDs or articles of clothing or books, go out to a nice restaurant, go to a movie or a concert or a play, buy a friend something nice, and pay for drinks at clubs.
• Comfortable furniture.
• Cleanliness. I don’t need an immaculate house, but I need it to be uncluttered, I need surfaces to be free of grunge and stickiness, and the air to be free of odors and mustiness.
• Someone to cuddle at night.
• Friends I can have deep intellectual conversations with, friends I can just play and be goofy with, friends I can share my deepest heartaches with, friends I can cuddle with.
• A rainy-day fund to provide a sense of financial security.
• A little leisure time to hack/read/play video games/watch a movie each day.
• No debt (other than unavoidables like car loans and mortgages).
• Sufficient means to provide for the needs and wants (within reason) of the people who depend on me.
• To be constantly learning.

No, I didn’t forget sex, I honestly don’t consider it one of my needs for contentedness.

Yes, I am high-maintenance.