5.50pm
Friday
17 December 2004
Fri, 17 Dec 2004 15:39:54
Re: My coworkers are caroling in the...
Newsgroups: git.talk.flame
Slangmender wrote:
I don't find happiness in happiness, because it's shallow to
me. How is being happy enough when there are six billion other
people on this planet?
How is ANYTHING enough, when there are six billion other people on this planet? Of course you can contribute to other people's happiness, and fact, for me personally, this is one of the easiest ways to make myself happy, is to see someone I really like happy, particularly because of something I helped to bring about. (Of course, this is the main reason I love Christmas so much: tons of excuses to do nice things for people.)
I know this all is basically self-centered, though, because no matter what you do for other people, you cannot MAKE them be happy. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there isn't anything you can do to make six billion people, or even a majority of them, have lives that they enjoy living, if they don't already. But hey, your own life? The one that YOU are wrapped around in constantly? You can make huge and massive differences in it, just with your outlook on life, and just by being open-minded and appreciative of the awesomeness that is constantly all around you.
How is being happy enough when being happy feels so meaningless to me? Happiness seems like such a small achievement when weighed against the unspeakable majesty of the cathedrals of Europe, the giants of art, democracy, the civil rights movement, ad nausem. That such things are "pleasing" to me doesn't really touch how deeply they can move me.
Well, I'm not saying you shouldn't try to effect change and majesty on a grand scale, or that the "shallow" pleasure of getting high and eating banana pudding should outrank the "deeper" pleasure of seeing the power of human expression. What I am saying is that you can't (or at least, in my opinion, shouldn't) be so dedicated to bringing about these deeper meanings in the world that you can't get enjoyment out of your own enjoyment. Call me a fucking hedonist all you want, but the person you can alter the most by far is yourself, so you shouldn't feel guilt for maximizing your own pleasure in life.