Happiness

When someone tells me to go to my happy place, I think of the top of an enormous sand dune overlooking the Pacific Ocean that I found with my family on a backpacking trip in the summer. Even though I was exhausted from the hike up, had itchy sand all over me, and was freezing cold as a result of the persistent wind, I felt a sense of joy unleashed within me. The feeling of being outside and away from anything that resembled civilization was very freeing. I also did not have many possessions with me because I had tried to make my pack as light as possible, so I was forced to look at the world around me and appreciate things as they were. I am the happiest when I am outside, exploring the world with people that I love and trust. Every bend in the trail presents another opportunity for adventure, and there are no obligations or schedules to stick to. That being said, while I love the outdoors, I know many other people in my life who would dread the thought of sleeping outside in a tent. I do not think that happiness is something that can be measured easily, seeing as it is different for every person. For this reason, I do not like the approach that the national happiness index takes in trying to sum up the happiness of an entire country in a single color. I also think that we all have moments of happiness and sadness in our lives and the index oversimplifies the concept of happiness. I feel that the best way to measure happiness is by recording how people feel in specific moments of their lives over a long period of time, like many small snapshots of emotion.



In the short story, “I’ve Been Called A Luddite", by Kurt Vonnegut, the narrator reminisces about a time when simplicity was more important than technology and advancement. He makes it a point to enjoy the small things in life and live in the present instead of constantly rushing onto the next big thing. Although his peers do not seem to understand the narrator's motives for living a simple life, he is confident in his ways and feels that the person he was born to be is enough for the world and that he does not need technology to justify himself. I agree with the point that Vonnegut is making. I feel that we sometimes get too caught up in the future and trying to compare ourselves to the people around us. While constantly striving to be better is not always a bad thing, constantly chastising yourself for the things that you have not done yet and never being satisfied is not healthy. Instead, I feel that it is important to take time to remember the things that you have already accomplished and appreciate what is happening around you in the moment.


In the NY Times article “But Will It Make You Happy?”, the author discusses how physical items do not necessarily contribute to a person's happiness. It implies that although consumer goods may provide pleasure for a little while, the excitement quickly fades and you are left with another object that fades into the background of your conciseness. However, by spending your money on experiences, you are more likely to retain long-lasting memories and a sense of happiness and fulfillment. The article states that this could be in part to the social connections that we are able to form by spending our time experiencing new things with people. While spending money on a new flat screen TV that will allow you to watch travel documentaries in high-definition may seem like a wonderful investment, the pleasure and lifelong memories that you would get by actually going to the places will last longer and ultimately provide you with a greater feeling of satisfaction. Our instinct to desire and hoard material goods can also be attributed to the urge to "keep up with the Joneses". When we are constantly comparing ourselves to the people around us, we will never feel satisfied with ourselves. We spend our lives chasing an ideal, only to find out later that it really doesn't matter how we measure up to others so long as we are happy with ourselves. If the people around you do not accept you because of the things that you own or how you dress or how big your house is, then you are not around the right people. We cannot form the social connections that make us happy if material objects are constantly acting as the middleman. By blockading ourselves with acquired objects from the simple pleasures of the outside world, we deny ourselves the chance to really live. I agree with the stance that this article takes because I have noticed that by taking time to appreciate the things that I already have, I spend less time anguishing and lamenting over what I don't have.






Photo: https://www.coastalliving.com/lifestyle/capture-the-coast-reader-photo-contest/2004-capturecoast-photo-contest-honorable-mentions#pc-baby-in-surf