Complex Numbers

Unalienable

PROMPT May 20th

What does happiness mean to you? Reflect back on a specific moment when you felt unconditionally happy. What circumstances made you feel that way?

So, yeah, I've ranted about happiness as a concept in here before, so some of this might be a rehash.

Perhaps because of the infamous meme posted on the internet by noted rapper DJ TJ, "the pursuit of happiness" has become enshrined in the actual (okay, the figurative) DNA of the US, along with discrimination and the benefits of working yourself to death.

A couple of notes on that, though:

1) Word meanings change over time. I mentioned here not too long ago that the meaning of "nice," for example, once meant something much closer to the sarcastic version today, as in "well, that's a nice pickle you've gotten yourself into." This is especially true for abstractions such as "liberty," or, indeed, "happiness." We -- well, I, anyway -- tend to think of it as people walking around with big smiles on their faces (assuming they're unmasked), probably without a care in the world, likely not very bright. But in its 18th-century meaning, the connotation was closer to prosperity, thriving, wellbeing  

2) The same happy people walking around maskless and smiling without a care in the world tend to forget about the "pursuit of" part. The DoI never claimed happiness as a right, only the pursuit thereof.

Consequently, "the pursuit of happiness" can be more precisely interpreted as the right to self-determination, to follow one's own chosen path in life to the extent that a person is mentally and physically able, and not be, say, limited by one's parent's profession or, to extend it into more modern terms, being shackled by traditional gender roles.

By the way, I don't want to hear about Jefferson's apparent hypocrisy in penning those words while owning actual slaves with no self-determination. I live in Charlottesville, so I'm fully aware; and we've all seen Hamilton. Or if you haven't, there's a video of it on Disney+; go watch it already.

So. Happiness. Modern connotation. I think it's only meaningful in contrast to its opposite, kind of like how it feels so good when you stop banging your head against a brick wall. Thus it is inherently a fleeting state. Some people like to pretend they're happy in order to fit in. Others pretty much have to pretend they're happy, even if they're working a shit retail job and having to deal with ignorant assholes. Quitting such a job, provided one has an alternative means of support, is, incidentally, practically guaranteed to produce feelings of true happiness -- for a few hours, anyway.

As for discussing happiness on a personal level, I've already mentioned in here - several times - the sensation I call beerenity Last time, I think I described it as utter calm, but utter calm makes me happy, so it fits here as well. And I'm pretty sure I talked about the time I scored some Pappy van Winkle bourbon. Man, that was a good night.

But since I've already told those stories, and because I don't want to describe things of a particularly adult nature, things that used to occasionally induce happiness, in here, how about the time I quit my job (even though it wasn't a shit retail job) and started my own company?

Sure, I knew co-running a company would be a massive source of a different kind of stress, but in that moment, I felt freedom because my destiny wasn't tied to a boss. It's like I said above with self-determination.

That only lasted a couple of hours, though. Then I had to fill out forms and meet with an accountant, both of which inevitably give me a headache. And headaches are anathema to happiness.

In any case, I don't see happiness -- modern connotation -- as a goal. No, it can be the result of achieving a goal, but in my experience, chasing happiness for its own sake is counterproductive. It only comes as a result of something else. And even then, trying to hold onto it beyond its natural life often leads to despair.

But without the despair, how do you know you were actually happy?