September 30, 2009
September 14, 2009
Don't worry, be happy :)
The idea of happiness often crosses my mind--gleefully galavanting betwixt my thoughts, reminding me of how good I've got it, or sitting ominously still, like a billboard hanging in an overcast sky, advertising how I could have it so much better.
I never thought about what happiness really is until I studied Aristotle. Basically, Aristotle says happiness is virtuous activity--to exercise one's reason to achieve some ultimate goal. It is a lifelong pursuit. It does not come from happenstance occurrences.
Aristotle is more or less right. Happiness is surely the whole of the sum of one's experiences. It is not a transient thing. It is not the joy a child feels when he or she plays with a toy, or is picked up and maneuvered around like a plane (complete with sound effects); it is not the excitement one gets on a carnival ride; it is not the incoherent bliss one feels after too many drinks. It is a complete and whole satisfaction of one's entire life, of everything good and everything bad and everything in between. It is something that can be obscured, but never erased.
That said, I can say, at this moment in time, I am happy. I am actually extremely happy. I have done some incredible things that few have had the chance to do; and I have had some incredibly embarrassing, humiliating, and painful experiences that I wish never to repeat--and I am just as glad that I've had the awful experiences as the awesome experiences; for I could not know exactly how high I've been without knowing the deepest lows. It's all relative, and it all contributes to an ever-expanding experiential library. Mine is well-stocked.
In order to be virtuous, Aristotle says that one must achieve a balance between two extremes--brashness and cowardice for example. It seems, though, that Aristotle posits a constant balance, more or less, between the two points, as opposed to an overall average of a particular virtue spectrum. Relativity is important here. The brash man would view the brave man as cowardly because he has never experienced or witnessed true cowardice; the coward would view the brave man as brash because he has never experienced true brashness. One must experience and witness all these things in order to be informed on where to place the fulcrum.
Even then, I don't think one can rest in the middle. For one, how boring! Two, the spectrums are not static. The spectrums shift as one is presented with new ideas and experiences. One is constantly expanding their knowledge of the world and of oneself, and as such, what one considers brave or continent, etc. will change. For instance, in Aristotle's time, cowardice was likened to sneaking into someone's house at night, slitting their throat and stealing their belongings. Today, cowardice could be likened to scamming the elderly out of their pensions via electronic means, or damaging a parked car and driving away without leaving your contact information. In fact, deceit, manipulation, and the like seem to be somewhat common in present Western culture. One must adjust accordingly to the zeitgeist.
I want you to think about these ideas as you try to pinpoint the things that make you happy. Are you proud of the person you are? What are your shining moments? Which are your bleakest? Have you experienced two opposites from the same spectrum? Have you achieved a balance?
I think these things will help you achieve a lasting happiness. One that is not transient or fleeting; one that does not come hastily and easily; one that comes only with brutal and brilliant life experiences, from making mistakes and wronging others, from achieving perfection and making a difference in the lives of others. Reflect and embrace it all.
There will be more gifts to come.
I never thought about what happiness really is until I studied Aristotle. Basically, Aristotle says happiness is virtuous activity--to exercise one's reason to achieve some ultimate goal. It is a lifelong pursuit. It does not come from happenstance occurrences.
Aristotle is more or less right. Happiness is surely the whole of the sum of one's experiences. It is not a transient thing. It is not the joy a child feels when he or she plays with a toy, or is picked up and maneuvered around like a plane (complete with sound effects); it is not the excitement one gets on a carnival ride; it is not the incoherent bliss one feels after too many drinks. It is a complete and whole satisfaction of one's entire life, of everything good and everything bad and everything in between. It is something that can be obscured, but never erased.
That said, I can say, at this moment in time, I am happy. I am actually extremely happy. I have done some incredible things that few have had the chance to do; and I have had some incredibly embarrassing, humiliating, and painful experiences that I wish never to repeat--and I am just as glad that I've had the awful experiences as the awesome experiences; for I could not know exactly how high I've been without knowing the deepest lows. It's all relative, and it all contributes to an ever-expanding experiential library. Mine is well-stocked.
In order to be virtuous, Aristotle says that one must achieve a balance between two extremes--brashness and cowardice for example. It seems, though, that Aristotle posits a constant balance, more or less, between the two points, as opposed to an overall average of a particular virtue spectrum. Relativity is important here. The brash man would view the brave man as cowardly because he has never experienced or witnessed true cowardice; the coward would view the brave man as brash because he has never experienced true brashness. One must experience and witness all these things in order to be informed on where to place the fulcrum.
Even then, I don't think one can rest in the middle. For one, how boring! Two, the spectrums are not static. The spectrums shift as one is presented with new ideas and experiences. One is constantly expanding their knowledge of the world and of oneself, and as such, what one considers brave or continent, etc. will change. For instance, in Aristotle's time, cowardice was likened to sneaking into someone's house at night, slitting their throat and stealing their belongings. Today, cowardice could be likened to scamming the elderly out of their pensions via electronic means, or damaging a parked car and driving away without leaving your contact information. In fact, deceit, manipulation, and the like seem to be somewhat common in present Western culture. One must adjust accordingly to the zeitgeist.
I want you to think about these ideas as you try to pinpoint the things that make you happy. Are you proud of the person you are? What are your shining moments? Which are your bleakest? Have you experienced two opposites from the same spectrum? Have you achieved a balance?
I think these things will help you achieve a lasting happiness. One that is not transient or fleeting; one that does not come hastily and easily; one that comes only with brutal and brilliant life experiences, from making mistakes and wronging others, from achieving perfection and making a difference in the lives of others. Reflect and embrace it all.
There will be more gifts to come.
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