April 26, 2008
It has been quite a long period of time since I was away from the blogging scene due to my busy schedules and all. But, now that I am feeling emo enough to write, this is the entry that is to be posted...
Today's topic is about happiness. The definition of happiness. For many people, the question of "What is Happiness" has always been on their minds. For some, it could be due to the loss of something precious to them, therefore, they would ask themselves this question. For some, it could be due to the life of constant stress and rat-race, therefore, at the end of the day, they would think to themselves what the hell is happiness all about. For others, or rather the minority, would question the definition of happiness just because they are curious about life itself. To them, they seem to have experienced both joy and sadness of this world, and often, are brave enough to ask such thoughtfully and emotionally provoking question. In fact, it is rather courageous, because for these individuals who choose to face such hard cold fact of life is something we should take our hats off to.
I don't know what happiness is, even now. Honestly, the times when I thought I was happy just doesn't keep up. The times I felt I was happy was just a moment of pleasure. The times I dreamt I was happy doesn't exist in reality. The times I knew I was happy, perhaps.. is impossible. Why is it impossible to know that one is happy? Happiness is not an expression; it is not a feeling.... but it is a state of mind. Happiness, in fact, has been defined by many throughout history. Epicurus, a Greek philosopher, was one famous for his definitions of happiness.
According to Epicurus, the first source of happiness is having friends. He recommended that we should never have a meal alone, but rather, we should have a companion or more whenever and wherever we go. He stressed that it is important who we are eating with, rather than what we eat or drink. The second source of happiness is freedom. He recommended that we should be free and go out for vacations every now and then. Epicurus and his friends would leave Athens during certain occasions in order to avoid the materialistic and gossipy, as well as the competitive atmostphere back home. He stressed that there is happiness whenever one is self-sufficient and financially independent. Moreover, he said that we must free ourselves from the prison of everyday life and politics... life may be simple, but as long as there is freedom, there is happiness. The third source is pretty much straightforward. Epicurus noted that we should live a self-analysing life. In order to do that, one should free themselves from the noisy commercialised environment every now and then such that they could be in a quiet place to exercise self-reflection.
So in sum, what Epicurus said was that if we do not have lots of money, but we have friends, self-sufficient and a self-analysed life, then we would be happy. Conversely, if we have lots of money, but we have no friends, and not self-sufficient, and not living a self analysed life, then we would never be happy. The reason why people are not finding enough happiness is because of advertising. Advertising is seductive enough to psychologically tempt consumers into thinking that they haven't have enough. It creates materialism and distracts us from the essential ingredients of life such as friends, freedom, and an analysed life. Materialism is in fact the root of all problems and the adversary of happiness.
I would have to agree with Epicurus that materialism is a dangerous sin that leads us no where. I would like to add that there is no happiness. Since there is no meaning in life, there is no happiness as well. The reason of making meaning out of life, is our human tendency and this natural ability should be used wisely. Thus, happiness doesn't exist, except in the corners of our minds. What do I mean by this? Simple. Happiness is not conscious. It is an unconscious state of mind, a being of nothingness. Sometimes, I thought to myself, "What if everything in this world were to be taken away from me?" What if I lost my love ones, my friends, my freedom, my dignity, my job, my goals, my money.. and so on.. until I'm left with nothing at all? Well, not
everything... because I only have a life left - a naked life.
I have suffered the loss of a girlfriend whom I loved so much in the recent past. She left me without a reason. Of course, this has dealt a tremendous blow on me and even now, it seems as though it was yesterday. I have suffered the loss of some precious things in my life, and these materials include watches, bags, wallets, jackets etc. I lost them either because I was absent-minded, or they were stolen away from me. I have suffered the loss of friends who simply do not care and do not forgive. I have been through other hardships which I would not want to reveal here. I had a near death experience and that explains why I think that life is fragile but, ironically, there is nothing to be excited about.
I don't consider life to be exciting, but the process of it, is. Life has no meaning, but to live life, you need to create a meaning for yourself. I don't believe that happiness is something that you and I know. I think happiness is a subconscious level of experience that you and I will never know. If I am Job, and God takes away everything from me after bargaining with the devil to spare my life, I would have been the most terribly upset individual here on earth. If such thing could happen to Job, and if such thing could happen to me, and some others, it could well be happening to almost anyone in this planet. Therefore, I could only conclude that life's meaning is based upon how one chooses to perceive.
Happiness is not pleasure. Happiness is not being in love. Happiness is not having lots of money. Happiness is not about gaining knowledge. Happiness is not about finding inner peace. Happiness is beyond reason and comprehension; it is unconsciously mysterious. If you know what happiness is, then you probably do not know or understand what happiness is anyway. If we're happy for a reason, then there is nothing to happy at all. If we're happy because we choose to, then that goes to show that life probably sucks. How can you know that you are happy when part of you is not? How can you be happy when a part of you isn't? We are never happy because we can never find happiness. We seek, we ask, we dream, and we search high and low for happiness, but yet we can't find. Friends and love ones may disappoint or leave you, freedom is hard to find, a self-analysed life is almost impossible in this current society we live in. There are targets to meet and bosses to satisfy everyday. And even if we were to leave the city and become self-sufficient, we would definitely miss the lifestyle of where we originally came from - the urban jungle. Futhermore, we depend heavily on religion and staunch beliefs, but yet realised that we still have some things to pray for in the end. O' when can we ever be happy enough? There is no happiness except to enter into a dimension of nothingness. Naked we came.. and naked we will depart. Such, is the nothingness of life.
To those who have ears to hear, let him hear...
