There is a booth at my school, where a man sits and asks students questions about a certain subject. Today when I sat down at the booth, he asked me, “what is happiness?” I automatically thought about how this can apply to my major, and vice versa. Studying philosophy, specifically in metaphysics, you discuss the differences between universals and particulars. Universals are things that can exist in more than one place at one time. If we were to look at a red pair of shoes, a red car, and a red hat, red would be the universal. It exists and sustains itself physically in more than one place at one time. The shoes, car, and hat however, are one of a kind; they are considered particulars.
Happiness is my universal.
To me, happiness is a big umbrella of feelings, people, connections, interactions, hobbies, sports, games, and subjects that create an ultimate satisfaction within us. All of the things we love to do, who we love to talk to, and where we love to go are all particulars in our universal happiness.
The next question that was asked was, “Is happiness, then, external?” And that question stumped me for a bit…
“Is happiness external.” That phrase, question, or comment can mean a many things.
If happiness is external, that is depressing!
Happiness itself is joy, fulfillment, satisfaction, and pure ecstasy from what ever it is that makes you feel that way. However, if you constantly need things to make you feel good, are you truly happy? Why can you not wake up and feel happy just because? We seem to need our sisters, our brothers, our pets, our hobbies, and guilty pleasures, just to be truly happy. Happiness seems to maintain itself as an external emotion; we need things to feel it.
This idea brings me to another philosophical concept: existentialism. In Albert Camus’ book, The Myth of Sisyphus, he describes a feeling of absurdity and its connection to committing suicide. He asks whether everyone who experiences the feeling of absurdity is required to take his or her own life? I believe that the answer is no. People feel absurd all the time. There are different situations in which the feeling of absurdity arises, however, not everyone who feels this way goes on to initiate personal euthanasia. I do believe, though, that everyone who commits suicide has felt the absurd.
My happiness is manifested within my mother, my sisters, my best friends, the awesome conversations I have with people, acting, singing, dancing, listening to music, and an overwhelming amount of a bunch of other things. Because this is an external happiness, I am not safe to feel happy. If my mother, sisters, and best friends die I am robbed of the greatest source of happiness in my life. If I loose my voice, become mute, and have my hands amputated I would not be able to communicate, let alone have awesome communication. If I break my legs I cannot dance. If I become deaf, I cannot hear. If I lose every means to receive happiness, I will feel as though my life is absurd. This absurdity would create distrust amongst reality and demolish my will to live.
Like I said… depressing.
But, the next answered that was asked was, “Are you happy now?”
And I said, “yes.” I smiled widely with the appreciation of all the happiness in my life and replied, “Yes… actually I am.”
-Iyanna James-Stephenson