Well, that is very interesting. Once again, for the sheer devil of it, I tried posting  a response to the “Happy Is…”piece.  It had not had any new comments in a day or so, so I thought I’d test the waters.  My first comment went from “pending” to posted in about half-an hour, so I posted a second comment adding that I didn’t think this sort of material did much for Huff-Post’s credibility.  Now I have just discovered that both posts have been removed! Is anyone else game to test the gatekeepers themselves? If so, let me know how you fare.

I just have to share something that completely cracks me up.  A couple of days ago, I was scanning through Huff-Post and came upon a curious post entitled “How Happy Is…How I Met My Life Partner.”  Don’t ask me why; maybe it was the curious nonsequitur, but I went ahead and read the post by one Sophie Keller, identified as a “happiness expert;” and it was a doozy!   How exactly did Ms, Keller acquire this remarkable expertise? The article says that she began her journey in high school by taking up a life of self-help experimentation that ran the gammut:

So through my teens, while my friends spent their money on drinking and clubbing, I spent my money on self-development.  I started at 14, when my best friend and I learned to do TM (Transcendental Meditation) and religiously meditated twice a day until our late 20’s.  At the same time, I started to experience all different types of therapy: hypnosis, NLP, Gestalt Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Alexander Technique, Rebirthing, Psycho synthesis, Body Mind therapy, Pilates, Shamanism, Life Coaching, Reiki, Rolfing, etc.  Additionally, I took part for years in numerous group personal development trainings, as well as many other body works. (Believing deeply, as I do, in the mind-body connection.)

Drinking and clubbing weren’t exactly options in my teen years; and you couldn’t buy much therapy with the proceeds from baby-sitting; so it’s safe to assume that we didn’t exactly move in the same social circles. But hell-bent on her path to Mr. Right, Ms. Keller, apparently, still had her work cut out for her:

After 18 years of working on myself, I knew that I had cleared all the past issues that were stopping me from making my life work completely. I had dropped all masks and was completely authentic in who I was. And then, just when I was least expecting it, my husband, Oliver, came along. That complete letting go meant that I was ready for him.

The remainder of the piece is sort of an infomercial about how she has used a “conglomeration” of what she learned to create her own practice and is now about to share that happiness expertise with readers of Huff-Post in a weekly feature on how to find one’s “ideal partner.”  I honestly thought it might be a sly humor piece.  No comments had posted yet, but two were pending; so I sent my own:  “You’re kidding, right?  How could eighteen years of compulsive navel-gazing make you better prepared to share someone else’s life?”  I checked back a little later and found that there were now NO comments, pending or otherwise!  Interesting.  Electronic glitch?  I posted again and checked back after another hour or so.  There were a small number of innocuous responses up, many with encouraging replies from Ms. Sophie; and none pending.  I checked my profile page for clues.  It showed that I had posted to Ms. Keller’s article, but the actual postings  had been expunged from my  list of comments.  I tried again, for the sheer devil of it; each successive attempt was less barbed than the one before.  I wanted to see if there was a threshold for acceptance or if I had been permanently banned from the happiness guru’s inner sanctum. Looks like I’m on the outs for good.  I notice, however, that as time went by and comments were few, she finally began to allow not just the odd wry remark, but even some more blistering than my own, to stand unexpurgated.

I had heard of people’s comments being blocked, but never experienced it myself.  I assumed you had to say something REALLY bad to get the boot from HP!  Now I’m not so sure.  Can someone please tell me if Huf-Post bloggers each moderate their own response forums?  If so, it certainly seems like Sophie Keller truly has found the secret to happiness after all her years of self-discovery: Don’t let anyone say you’re wrong!