You know the feeling when you just can't stop smiling? Smiling from ear to ear, it eventually starts to hurt your cheeks. It's not the kind of smile that comes from a good joke or from an evening out, it's a smile that comes when your mind is blissful, full of an unmentionable joy. It bubbles up from inside and the feeling is eerie, almost spiritual. Perhaps you have felt this kind of joy when you first learned to bike, or when your child laughs for the first time, or on your wedding day. This is the kind of feeling I had last week.
This smile comes from an unexpected source. Taking part in a singing competition means that, at some point, all singers are camped out in a hotel for a few days while shooting the next episodes. When you push a group of people for a couple of days and then give them the day off, one of two things will happen. Either this group of singers will go to the hotel, eat a filling meal and go to bed, or they will go to a karaoke bar and sing their heart, frustration and tension out. If the group of singers would go to a karaoke bar and sing their heart, frustration and tension out, they would most definitely choose the most cheesy karaoke bar in town. Something like CocoLoco sounds about right. By the time they hit the karaoke bar, everyone would be laughing and smiling, exhausted, tired and happy.
One of the singers would choose Whitney Houston's classic I Wanna Dance With Somebody and oh how everyone would dance.
Hypothetically, if I had been at CocoLoco that evening, I would have watched my fellow competitors singing along to the tunes, moving in perfect beat to the addictive tune. A random couple would join in on the dance floor, also smiling. It would be one of those perfect moments that only lasts a minute, but stays with you a lifetime.
This same kind of happiness I have also found sitting alone on a beach and riding the tram to work, in hours of distress as much as in hours of joy, alone as well as in good company, at home as strongly as abroad. It comes unexpectedly and without any prior notice, bubbles up from somewhere deep inside. A calm sense of perfection.
Something you are not aware of is that I've been writing and rewriting this post about a dozen times. Why? Because this is one of the hardest topics I've ever written about. Confusion strikes and it is tearing a whole in my soul not to be able to give even the slightest of insight. The more I think about it and the more I analyze it, the more complicated it seems, the further I get from any simple explanation. This is even more confusing as happiness in itself is quite a simple matter. Perhaps even more simple than I could have imagined. Here it goes (and mind you, this is not even slightly my field):
The ancient Greeks, as is the case with oh so many things, were among the first to explore how our emotional responses are linked to our physical body. The theories of the Greeks were dismissed to a large extent, but during the 21st century this link has, again, seen the light of day. In the field of neuroscience, quote, happiness - like every other emotional experience - is the result of electrochemical reactions in the brain brought on by stimuli. All of this is based on a hypothesis by this guy called Francis Crick that "you, your joys and sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated neurons". For more on that, check this out.
I won't even pretend to understand half of that, but I do understand that, by this, our personality is simply a sum of a lot of shit that happens in our brains. Unfortunately, that doesn't help at all. It still doesn't offer an explanation as to what triggers the feeling of happiness. Still puzzled, I turn to find what others, people older, smarter and wiser than me, have said about the matter. I find one simple quote that sort of blows me away
You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. - Albert Camus
I've never even heard about this wise man, Albert Camus (yes I googled him and he was a French writer and philosopher), but it sounds like he knows his shit. If you don't buy that, there's always the other possibility, offered by the Beatles
One theme I did find plowing through quotes about happiness is that happiness only comes with the risk of being unhappy. Jonathan Safran Foer said: you cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness. I guess it's true, when you are the happiest, you are also the most vulnerable to pain. Continuing this thought, Lauren Oliver wrote: you can't be happy unless you're unhappy sometimes. Congratulations, we have ourselves the most magnificent paradox of them all. It seems as if we can only be happy if we are also sad, protecting ourselves from sadness only resulting in less happiness. Does that mean that the crappier I feel one day, the happier I'll feel the next? Time for the big guns.
Happiness depends upon ourselves. - Aristoteles
Now that just clears everything up, doesn't it. Thanks, dead dude with white beard from 300 BC, that really helps. I guess dead dude with white beard does have a point, though. What makes me happy might not matter to you, so happiness derives from differing sources. The problem, however, is still as evident as ever, and yes Albert Camus, I'm still searching for a recipe for happiness. In fact, what I'm looking for is some sort of connection. If happiness can derive from any number of places, feelings, situations, or whatever it may be, what is the connective factor? Is there even one? It is contentment? Peace with oneself? Feeling of achievement?
Frustrated as ever, pulling my hair and screaming at the walls, suddenly it hits me. I've already said it. Happiness, it's one of those perfect moments that only lasts a minute, but stays with you a lifetime. That's exactly what it is. And just as our old pal Albert says, when you're busy searching for happiness, those moments will just fly by unnoticed. It doesn't really matter where those moments come from, what matter is that we acknowledge them and, even more importantly, enjoy them. Last, also dead dude with white beard is correct. Happiness derives from so many places, but always from within us. The origin of happiness is not in the world, but in us, and so happiness does depend upon ourselves.
This explanation has nothing to do with science, and if you ask me, happiness has nothing to do with science. They say that the Devil is in the detail (or originally that God is in the detail, but we don't care about that in this post), but I say happiness in the detail. Usually it is the smallest of things that sparks this feeling and that's why detail is important. So perhaps the pursuit of happiness is in vain, for happiness is already here, in the details and the small moments around us. We just have to pay attention and let the details do their work.
Happiness, it lies in those perfect moments that lasts only a minute, but stays with you a lifetime.
- Cecilia
This smile comes from an unexpected source. Taking part in a singing competition means that, at some point, all singers are camped out in a hotel for a few days while shooting the next episodes. When you push a group of people for a couple of days and then give them the day off, one of two things will happen. Either this group of singers will go to the hotel, eat a filling meal and go to bed, or they will go to a karaoke bar and sing their heart, frustration and tension out. If the group of singers would go to a karaoke bar and sing their heart, frustration and tension out, they would most definitely choose the most cheesy karaoke bar in town. Something like CocoLoco sounds about right. By the time they hit the karaoke bar, everyone would be laughing and smiling, exhausted, tired and happy.
 |
| I give you CocoLoco |
One of the singers would choose Whitney Houston's classic I Wanna Dance With Somebody and oh how everyone would dance.
Clock strikes upon the hour
And the sun begins to fade
Still enough time to figure out
How to chase my blues away
Hypothetically, if I had been at CocoLoco that evening, I would have watched my fellow competitors singing along to the tunes, moving in perfect beat to the addictive tune. A random couple would join in on the dance floor, also smiling. It would be one of those perfect moments that only lasts a minute, but stays with you a lifetime.
 |
| Trying to take a wedding photo until my brother shouts "look at that squirrel". Happiness caught on camera. |
This same kind of happiness I have also found sitting alone on a beach and riding the tram to work, in hours of distress as much as in hours of joy, alone as well as in good company, at home as strongly as abroad. It comes unexpectedly and without any prior notice, bubbles up from somewhere deep inside. A calm sense of perfection.
Something you are not aware of is that I've been writing and rewriting this post about a dozen times. Why? Because this is one of the hardest topics I've ever written about. Confusion strikes and it is tearing a whole in my soul not to be able to give even the slightest of insight. The more I think about it and the more I analyze it, the more complicated it seems, the further I get from any simple explanation. This is even more confusing as happiness in itself is quite a simple matter. Perhaps even more simple than I could have imagined. Here it goes (and mind you, this is not even slightly my field):
The ancient Greeks, as is the case with oh so many things, were among the first to explore how our emotional responses are linked to our physical body. The theories of the Greeks were dismissed to a large extent, but during the 21st century this link has, again, seen the light of day. In the field of neuroscience, quote, happiness - like every other emotional experience - is the result of electrochemical reactions in the brain brought on by stimuli. All of this is based on a hypothesis by this guy called Francis Crick that "you, your joys and sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated neurons". For more on that, check this out.
 |
| Neurons or not, Holi festival in India was all about happiness |
I won't even pretend to understand half of that, but I do understand that, by this, our personality is simply a sum of a lot of shit that happens in our brains. Unfortunately, that doesn't help at all. It still doesn't offer an explanation as to what triggers the feeling of happiness. Still puzzled, I turn to find what others, people older, smarter and wiser than me, have said about the matter. I find one simple quote that sort of blows me away
You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. - Albert Camus
I've never even heard about this wise man, Albert Camus (yes I googled him and he was a French writer and philosopher), but it sounds like he knows his shit. If you don't buy that, there's always the other possibility, offered by the Beatles
When I hold you in my arms (oh yes)
When I feel my finger on your trigger (oh yes)
I know nobody can do me harm
Because
Happiness is a warm gun, momma
Happiness is a warm gun
Can't really argue with the Beatles, now can you!
One theme I did find plowing through quotes about happiness is that happiness only comes with the risk of being unhappy. Jonathan Safran Foer said: you cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness. I guess it's true, when you are the happiest, you are also the most vulnerable to pain. Continuing this thought, Lauren Oliver wrote: you can't be happy unless you're unhappy sometimes. Congratulations, we have ourselves the most magnificent paradox of them all. It seems as if we can only be happy if we are also sad, protecting ourselves from sadness only resulting in less happiness. Does that mean that the crappier I feel one day, the happier I'll feel the next? Time for the big guns.
Happiness depends upon ourselves. - Aristoteles
Now that just clears everything up, doesn't it. Thanks, dead dude with white beard from 300 BC, that really helps. I guess dead dude with white beard does have a point, though. What makes me happy might not matter to you, so happiness derives from differing sources. The problem, however, is still as evident as ever, and yes Albert Camus, I'm still searching for a recipe for happiness. In fact, what I'm looking for is some sort of connection. If happiness can derive from any number of places, feelings, situations, or whatever it may be, what is the connective factor? Is there even one? It is contentment? Peace with oneself? Feeling of achievement?
 |
| Happiness can be present even in the simplest of situations. Often unexplainable it's in the moment. |
Frustrated as ever, pulling my hair and screaming at the walls, suddenly it hits me. I've already said it. Happiness, it's one of those perfect moments that only lasts a minute, but stays with you a lifetime. That's exactly what it is. And just as our old pal Albert says, when you're busy searching for happiness, those moments will just fly by unnoticed. It doesn't really matter where those moments come from, what matter is that we acknowledge them and, even more importantly, enjoy them. Last, also dead dude with white beard is correct. Happiness derives from so many places, but always from within us. The origin of happiness is not in the world, but in us, and so happiness does depend upon ourselves.
This explanation has nothing to do with science, and if you ask me, happiness has nothing to do with science. They say that the Devil is in the detail (or originally that God is in the detail, but we don't care about that in this post), but I say happiness in the detail. Usually it is the smallest of things that sparks this feeling and that's why detail is important. So perhaps the pursuit of happiness is in vain, for happiness is already here, in the details and the small moments around us. We just have to pay attention and let the details do their work.
Happiness, it lies in those perfect moments that lasts only a minute, but stays with you a lifetime.
- Cecilia
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