Good Intention Photos that make me think…. Well wait a minute
Part Fifteen
On the Simplicity of being… happy….
We often see photos like this in our lives; Stating in ten words or less the choice of us and our simple drive to this thing we call happiness.
The idea (basically being stated is) one must first have the thought of the emotion in order to actually have it, and so therefore logically one can STOP oneself if one so desires from having said thoughts in the first place… and therefore lead a happier, simpler and easier existence.
Sounds great in theory, if only things were that simple.
This concept is frequently trotted out, but alas it seems to me that often this concept does not seem to pay much attention to the actualities, nor the unknowns of our species. With signs like this, the idea of the quick fix (don’t think it… and you will be all the better for it), circumvents a bigger piece of the human pie… that is the differentiating ideas between conscious and subconscious thought. While the latter may well be indicted in mood generation, quick fix pictures like this most often mean the former when speaking to this idea of ‘thinking’.
My mouth is forced downwards - it creates a negative emotion as if I was unhappy, and does make me want to feel unhappy, but is not created by my conscious mind, and is independent of my mood and thinking… That is the reality of humans, but much less fun or enlightening to put on a beautiful backdrop of… happiness….
And what of things such as bipolar disorder, hormonal imbalances, changes in blood sugar and medications, (among others), in the case of these things, many times the emotions happen first and the thoughts follow. The moods then trigger the bad or good thoughts, not the other way round.
Upon closer thought of this “choice of happiness” thing, it seems to me to be a little more like this: You feel something inside of you that’s wrong, but at first it’s hard sometimes to understand why you’re feeling that way. Only after you experience that emotion first hand can you really understand what you’re feeling. Perhaps then you may choose to try in some way to change the emotion to better feel a sense of … good… within, but to just bluntly state that Happiness is a choice seems (to me) to show a lack of understanding of the way our species really functions.
Emotions aren’t logical or always fun, but experiencing them is what makes us feel alive… good or bad.
What is in a Word: Part Thirty
The Paradox of the idea:
Happiness or a ham sandwich?
Which is better, eternal happiness or a ham sandwich? It would appear that eternal happiness is better, but is this really the case?
After all, nothing is better than eternal happiness, and a ham sandwich is certainly better than nothing.
Therefore a ham sandwich is better than eternal happiness.
We are like people looking for something they have in their hands all the time; we’re looking in all directions except at the thing we want, which is probably why we haven’t found it.
Because we all need to feel we are number one at something…..
” Greener Grass” Does not always mean its all about “The Green”
You will often hear the saying in life…”the grass is greener on the on the other side”
…but is it really?
It comes as no surprise that this saying is often heard the most in cultures where the grass is already greener, at least in a relative view of the world. Persons whom don’t have much (or nothing at all), don’t seem to complain as much (perhaps they are too busy just getting on with trying to carve out a life with the meager things that they have)
Those that have and want more, seem to do a whole lot more complaining (perhaps it has something to do with the crazy human tendency of desire. You know, once you have more, then the cycle just continues and you begin to want even more and more)
Take a culture like South Korea for example. It may be one of the fastest raising economies in the world and one of the wealthiest, but it also (now) has the second highest suicide rate in the world (due to all the pressure on its population because of such a dramatic increase in is wealth in such a short time…. The pressure to keep that pace is hard on its population). Or what about a country like Cuba? Seen by many countries as one that is run by a ruthless dictator, who limits rights and ownership of the people there, Cuba now ranks in the top ten in terms of the happy country index in the world. Or what of the United States, a country that holds itself out as a beacon to the world yet ranks far down the list on things like literacy rates and rich/poor wealth ratio gap.
It seems to me, in many instances, “the grass will always seem greener” until you get there. Once you are there, you may be surprised to see that the greener grass has its own set of problems and this grass is relative in terms of what we as a society has set up/ see to mean “greener”
Having the biggest house, the fastest cars and the most adult toys does not mean it is greener. In fact, if we look at the world today, usually that means (at least at the present time), your economy is one of the worst, and the amount of people in your country whose “greener grass” is turning brown, is growing at an alarming rate.
So the next time you think about that other side, think carefully before you move, and understand that material things are not the only gauge of … a better tomorrow.
A dose of Sanity: Part Twelve
Comparison is the thief of Joy.
Looking at the comforts-happiness relationship, we know that one can be as well-off as is possible when one has the basic comforts of life. (so) Then the cause of discontent are thoughts like: “I can have more” “I should be like that person”, “I need to be seen in the same vain as so and so” and availability of ways to act on such thoughts. The pursuit of “more” “likeness” “equal to” and so forth (in terms of “things”) most assuredly will reward one with short-term spikes in happiness, feelings of equality, self worth (and the like), but the process (of constantly acquiring “more”) gradually makes life complex, until finally one looks about and realizes that one is no happier than those “simple people”.
It would be tragic if one is incapable of living without the constant “fix” of “more”.
The Isms in Art Form: Part Fourteen
Utilitarianism:
Moral worth of its action is determined solely by its usefulness in maximizing utility as summoned among all sentient beings. Humans should act in order to achieve the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people
Colour me … what???
With so many emotions running through a person on any given day, with the amount of information we have to process, with the number of questions we like to be answered, with the amount of time we spend trying to make ourselves happy (and yes, perhaps even deny all the other thoughts), with the range, variety, vast “differences”, thoughts, notions, explanations, theories… oh the sea we must wade through.
People say… don’t think too much, just try to relax and to centre yourself. I think that is a wonderful place to be… centred. But lets not forget where your centre is may not be the centre of another… then what? Do you move to another place in an attempt to be in their centre or do you stay in your own and them in theirs and find a way to work through all the emotions to find a common ground.
or
Do you shut yourself out? It is true in this world not everyone can get along. I question libertarians all the time for this reason (as they go on the idea that everyone will be able to do what it is they want). I really challenge that notion, even thought I think it is a great idea in THEORY. But we are a species that interacts. Interaction creates connections… cause and effect. We cannot think that all we do, say or aspire to be is purely an individualistic notion of being. That in itself (to me) shows the self-ego rearing a misunderstanding push into what is more a total connection. We are not a solitary creature.
In some ways, I see us as a Finite-State Machine, in the sense of how we process things within us. At least that is how we see it from our perspective, but in fact it is so much more complicated than that. It would be the easy and simple way to look at it in terms of us being this idea of a processing module, but the emotions are the varient that change the equation with each passing moment.
We spend so much of our lives trying to control these emotions. Books, spas, vacations, therapy, religion, shopping, science… the ways in which we try to control them are endless. Even if we tell ourselves it as simple as…. just relaxing and letting go. The process to do that is not as simple as the five seconds it says to do that….the process (no matter what it may be) takes work. And again, unlike a process module, emotions play the variant in the equation. Think of emotions as a State-Name, and label them (if you will… state-name one, two, three and so on). So your state-name will effect your Finite State Machine (you answer the phone when first waking up… so your tired and your reaction may reflect that, you have had a hard day, something is on your mind, your coming down off a high from a test, or a holiday, another person just witnessed a car accident…. oh the variables)… your state-Name will be in a place that may not be the same as another but your finite state machine forgets that as your self ego does not register it.
Sometimes it is good to let emotions take control over us and guide our actions and decisions. Other times, it is better that we are the ones controlling emotions.
Confused? This is only a small part of what we has a species go through each and every day in the functions of … living. We may not see it, may not care about it, may not even understand it is there… but it is all the same, and it is the thing that has given us all that we have created. Emotions of all types are the driving force of all things… perceived good or bad.
In the human experience it is common to use the term “emotion” to describe the feeling state, but in fact emotion is considerably more complex.
The perception of….
Happiness
We often look at another’s situation, another’s place in their life and what they are doing and we think “well they can’t be happy”? We think that others can only be happy if they are this way or that, achieving certain things, acting certain ways, being in certain states. We have saying like “money can’t buy happiness”. ”Happiness comes from within”. The amount of time we spend looking at and defining what other people (should ) see as happiness often leaves us lost to our own.
Happiness is a perception that one can only see within themselves, and their happiness is something another cannot have for they are not that person.
Think of what fundamentally makes you happy in your life… not the extras of all things, the fundamentals of existence. The needs to survive (like food and water), and the needs of the self (like respect, empathy, understanding)… these are the fundamentals of happiness, where a person goes with the idea of it from there is for them to decide for themselves…
I Buy: Therefore I am:
The Commercialization effect:
In its original meaning, commercialism it is the practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce and business.
Today, however, it primarily seems to refer to the tendency within what we call an open-market capitalism to turn everything into objects, images, and services sold for the purpose of generating a profit.
While this may sound like nothing new, as the things to “commercialize” have grown smaller, there seems to also be an unnerving tendency for intangible things such as happiness, beauty, or health to be given a monetary value and to be spoken of as commodities.
In short, we, our thoughts, our fears, our wants, needs and desires, our very emotions and existence are being marketed (back to ourselves).
Perhaps one does not see this as a bad thing… perhaps in some ways it is not. But when the commercialization of us all (and everything around us) becomes something solely for a profit… the truth of many things, the seeking out of differences and independent thought can get lost in the drive for the dollar.
We are drowning in a sea of goods from excessive commercialism. This type of way of living is not sustainable (for us as a species, or for the planet at large).
The commercialization effect does not mean just the mass marketing of us, it means the loosing of parts of us as well. Commercialization is designed to maximize profit margins, and increase saturation. In short, commercialization makes us all the same, both from an external point of view (in the marketing of objects) to the internal (in the marketing of cultures, medications to change those things about your personality you may not like, forms of child selection and the like)
So the question seems to be. When is commercialization too much? How far will you allow the commercialization (of you) to reach before you say… enough is enough.?
This seems to be a question each person needs to ask (and answer) for them self.
