Blog Entry 2: Electric Blogaloo (aka Happiness)

Daaaaaangerous grounds here: an entry discussing Happiness. Boy, do people feel strongly about the subject. In pursuing it, do we let it slip past us? John Stuart Mill said:

            “But I now thought that this end [one's happiness] was only to be attained by not making it the direct end. Those only are happy (I thought) who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness[....] Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness along the way[....] Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so."

Quite a foreboding little quote there, John.

Soren Kierkegaard said:

            “Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.”

I came across both these quotes on the wikipedia page called ‘The Paradox of Hedonism’. So, it is with the wisdom of these men in mind, that I approach this subject with some trepidation. Clearly, I am fond of happiness and I want plenty of it in my life; I’m not going to try to lie about that, as if that would somehow outwit this little paradox.

But, I do take heed of the points made about the pursuit of happiness. Happiness as an ultimate goal is a little boring anyway. It’s good to want happiness and to think about what that means, but it’s also really good to have some kind of higher purpose in life than simply “pleasure”. By “higher purpose” we need not try to search for the most noble of pursuits, all we really need is an interest, any interest will do. It is my intuition that rather than try to chose a purpose, it would be better to examine our lives and see what we are already interested in and skilled at.

Basically, examine what you are most interested in and skilled at and then seek ever-greater challenges and results in that field. I believe this is the kind of purposeful living that attracts happiness. In psychology, this kind of completely focused motivation is called ‘Flow’ and it’s a concept I find really intriguing.

Stolen from Wikipedia, cool?

‘Flow’ seems to have the same elusive properties that happiness does, as one cannot force a state of Flow, it just happens when we immerse ourselves in tasks that are intrinsically worthwhile.

Almost directly contrary to everything I’ve just said, I have been pursuing and creating more happiness for my life lately. Not by obsessing over the idea of being happy or making that my ultimate goal, but in my declaration that I will have an extraordinary life and will achieve extraordinary results. I find that simply declaring something is a really good first step to realising that thing; my life is following the suit of my declaration.

Let’s be clear, however; I am not a wizard! There was no magic moment where I clicked my fingers and all the puzzle pieces arranged themselves, but I have started a dialogue and I am keeping it alive. There are ups and downs of course, but they don’t mean anything. The downs don’t mean failure, which I guess means that the ups don’t mean success- the success lies in my continued *commitment* to this extraordinary life (and to documenting it with this blog). That I will not give up is the real success.

So then! Let’s step away from this theorising and back into my actual life. Like I just said, the elusive nature of happiness has not stopped me from pursuing and capturing happiness and dressing it up in a little harlequin outfit and commanding it to DANCE! DANCE for my amusement!

I tried to find a good picture to put here. I am sorry.

 But there are side effects to happiness. At its extreme, happiness takes the form of a mania and the typical symptoms are low attention span, compulsiveness, racing thoughts, delusions of grandeur and over-indulgence. Last night I definitely over-indulged (there! My actual life, I promised we’d get there) and decided to drink a large amount of special reserve ginger wine because it was damn delicious and the effects were really pleasant.

I know that drinking too much is not ideal, but that’s where the delusions of grandeur come into the mix as my brain starts having these silly little thoughts like “drinking too much is usually a bad idea- but, man, you’re *special*! Let’s kick this night up a notch and show these mere mortals how a Chris Butler parties!”

Like an excited girl.

 I ended up being so damn content and relaxed that I totally ignored that my bedroom was full of cool and interesting people and I just went to sleep, declaring to protestors that I was embarking on a spiritual experiment to show that anxiety is worthless and even if I do nothing right now everything will be OK.

The upshot of all this is that I drank too much and missed half of the damn party! That’s not ideal to me. I would have liked to have learnt about and connected more with my guests, but that damn pest Happiness got in the way.

Happiness is a shifting, elusive, dangerous, magical creature and we all have unique and complicated relationships with it.

Perhaps I will let Happiness do its own damn thing and I won’t so much *pursue* it, as smugly benefit from it when it swoops into my life as a result of all the action and adventure I stir up; actually staying awake and having an awesome time for example.

In other news I am pleased to report that I ran through the bush to the turbine, took a charming new friend to see the Hylozoic Series at the City Gallery (which you *must* MUST see before they pack it up on June 3^rd)

and I’ve just started reading a really great book about thinking. Life is ticking along nicely. Thanks for stopping by.