Happiness is like an Easter egg
Happiness is like an Easter egg.
It’s hidden in the cracks and crevices of our lives, waiting for us to find it, revel momentarily in its beauty and find the motivation to search for more. It is short-lived and stares briefly at us before fluttering away, coaxing us into a game of tag. In large proportions, it can kill us. It comes in bite-sized chunks so that it can exist concurrently with melancholy, rage, trepidation and stress and in that way, allow us to make the comparisons that force us to continue searching for it. Miss the Easter egg and someone else will take it. Collect too many without doing anything with them and they’ll fall out of grasp.
Happiness is not a state to be attained.
It is a moment to be enjoyed.
Let me explain.
We have this astoundingly distorted idea of happiness being this huge thing that exists in one place, for one person to be ‘consumed’ at one time, to the eternal benefit of the lucky few. But no sch [earthly] happiness exists. In fact, we may never know what true happiness feels like in our earthly lives, because like a lot of other things, it is too big for our soft, meaty bodies to endure. But even if they weren’t, true and absolute happiness would diminish any outlook on life and the pursual of a better life.
People devise socio-political movements because of a desire for happiness that they are denied off by the status quo. They see the happiness of the majority who benefit from the suppression of the minority and want a chunk of it, but want a more lasting happiness – One comes from a restructuring of the social order. But the majority, having tasted the Easter egg of immorally assumed happiness won’t give up without a fight. Humans hunt animals because of the potential happiness that exists in consuming their flesh. But animals want to continue to revel in the Easter egg of existence.
The universe is, in that way, a constant strife for the attaining of happiness, in any form and by any means necessary.
Notice that in a world with unlimited wants and limited resources, the greatest motivator of human actions is achievement of maximum happiness for the highest number of people.
Utility
This may look like one of two things: It may look like the average of the demands of all potential beneficiaries of said utility, such as an philharmonic orchestra choosing to, for a concert on a particular day, play music from the classical and the medieval period because some people like the former and not the latter, while the inverse is true for others. This relies on trade-offs – Things that we have to lose to benefit from other things – and trade offs are motivated by a hierarchy of happiness inducing phenomena. I, as the concert-goer, would trade off having to sit through half a concert of the music of Palestrina because of the Easter eggs to be found in Mozart’s 41st Symphony. My dislike for Palestrina allows me to somehow derive more pleasure in Mozart. If I sat through the former before the latter was played, the excitement of getting to at last hear the latter merges with the actual excitement of listening with it. If Mozart was played first, the ‘high’ from his music would carry into the second half of the concert. I might even pick up some Easter eggs in one of Palestrina’s pieces. Suddenly, Palestrina’s music isn’t so unbearable anymore.
It may also look like the combination that appeals to the most people. A lot of people would rather watch a Federer v. Nadal epic than a duel between one of these and a wild card player and so, organizers will make sure that they get to play on the biggest court, with the best umpires and ball boys. Of course, there’ll be people who like neither of the two but they become the trade-off in this case because maximum happiness has been achieved. Spectators can’t get any happier than when they watch the two best male tennis players in the world squaring off. They find more Easter eggs in a Rafa v. Roger match and those who don’t have to sit through the match or leave. Those that choose to sit through it may pick up one or two Easter eggs while benefitting from the communal activity of developing an appreciation of the two players. Where absolute and eternal happiness, the benefit of acquisition doesn’t exist. One only gets to enjoy things for what they are and yet enjoyment is about the process of finding out what things are, together with what they actually are.
To those that find them in rapid succession, happiness becomes like an infinite fountain from which all can drink. Notice how happy people are such a joy to be around. They spend so much time seeking out Easter eggs that they almost radiate the beauty of happiness. It oozes from their pores and touches everyone they meet. They become the people we love to complain about who seem to be constantly smiling – Their happiness annoys us because it threatens the balance of emotions in us. And it’s not to say that they are completely and entirely content and satisfied with the pleasures of life. They have just spent so much time seeking our Easter eggs that it has become like second nature to them. But because of the destructiveness of happiness in such massive proportions, they simply must share it.
Happiness is like a special brand of Easter eggs – a Schrodinger’s Easter egg of sorts that appears when you see it. Sounds crazy? I know. It’s 0542 and I haven’t slept yet. In the darkest of times, happiness seems like a distant, unattainable thing. To a depressed person, happiness is like a brief flash of light and an all-consumingly dark tunnel. To a segregated minority, happiness seems like resignation – Giving up. But in all its forms, happiness exists in small proportions to be enjoyed while they last.
It is characteristic of happiness that is unavoidably and frustratingly true.
It is a characteristic of happiness that makes it a heart-wrenchingly beautiful thing.
For happy are those who seek out happiness in the darkest of times, for they shall find it.
Happy are those that revel in its beauty for they shall be motivated to seek out more.
Happy are those that find more for they shall have enough to share.
Happy are those that share, for they make the world a better place.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"
Sincerely,
Muku
Dedication: To Ruth - It takes two to DMC about the nature of happiness. Thank you!
Happiness is not a state to be attained.
It is a moment to be enjoyed.
Let me explain.
We have this astoundingly distorted idea of happiness being this huge thing that exists in one place, for one person to be ‘consumed’ at one time, to the eternal benefit of the lucky few. But no sch [earthly] happiness exists. In fact, we may never know what true happiness feels like in our earthly lives, because like a lot of other things, it is too big for our soft, meaty bodies to endure. But even if they weren’t, true and absolute happiness would diminish any outlook on life and the pursual of a better life.
People devise socio-political movements because of a desire for happiness that they are denied off by the status quo. They see the happiness of the majority who benefit from the suppression of the minority and want a chunk of it, but want a more lasting happiness – One comes from a restructuring of the social order. But the majority, having tasted the Easter egg of immorally assumed happiness won’t give up without a fight. Humans hunt animals because of the potential happiness that exists in consuming their flesh. But animals want to continue to revel in the Easter egg of existence.
The universe is, in that way, a constant strife for the attaining of happiness, in any form and by any means necessary.
Notice that in a world with unlimited wants and limited resources, the greatest motivator of human actions is achievement of maximum happiness for the highest number of people.
Utility
This may look like one of two things: It may look like the average of the demands of all potential beneficiaries of said utility, such as an philharmonic orchestra choosing to, for a concert on a particular day, play music from the classical and the medieval period because some people like the former and not the latter, while the inverse is true for others. This relies on trade-offs – Things that we have to lose to benefit from other things – and trade offs are motivated by a hierarchy of happiness inducing phenomena. I, as the concert-goer, would trade off having to sit through half a concert of the music of Palestrina because of the Easter eggs to be found in Mozart’s 41st Symphony. My dislike for Palestrina allows me to somehow derive more pleasure in Mozart. If I sat through the former before the latter was played, the excitement of getting to at last hear the latter merges with the actual excitement of listening with it. If Mozart was played first, the ‘high’ from his music would carry into the second half of the concert. I might even pick up some Easter eggs in one of Palestrina’s pieces. Suddenly, Palestrina’s music isn’t so unbearable anymore.
It may also look like the combination that appeals to the most people. A lot of people would rather watch a Federer v. Nadal epic than a duel between one of these and a wild card player and so, organizers will make sure that they get to play on the biggest court, with the best umpires and ball boys. Of course, there’ll be people who like neither of the two but they become the trade-off in this case because maximum happiness has been achieved. Spectators can’t get any happier than when they watch the two best male tennis players in the world squaring off. They find more Easter eggs in a Rafa v. Roger match and those who don’t have to sit through the match or leave. Those that choose to sit through it may pick up one or two Easter eggs while benefitting from the communal activity of developing an appreciation of the two players. Where absolute and eternal happiness, the benefit of acquisition doesn’t exist. One only gets to enjoy things for what they are and yet enjoyment is about the process of finding out what things are, together with what they actually are.
To those that find them in rapid succession, happiness becomes like an infinite fountain from which all can drink. Notice how happy people are such a joy to be around. They spend so much time seeking out Easter eggs that they almost radiate the beauty of happiness. It oozes from their pores and touches everyone they meet. They become the people we love to complain about who seem to be constantly smiling – Their happiness annoys us because it threatens the balance of emotions in us. And it’s not to say that they are completely and entirely content and satisfied with the pleasures of life. They have just spent so much time seeking our Easter eggs that it has become like second nature to them. But because of the destructiveness of happiness in such massive proportions, they simply must share it.
Happiness is like a special brand of Easter eggs – a Schrodinger’s Easter egg of sorts that appears when you see it. Sounds crazy? I know. It’s 0542 and I haven’t slept yet. In the darkest of times, happiness seems like a distant, unattainable thing. To a depressed person, happiness is like a brief flash of light and an all-consumingly dark tunnel. To a segregated minority, happiness seems like resignation – Giving up. But in all its forms, happiness exists in small proportions to be enjoyed while they last.
It is characteristic of happiness that is unavoidably and frustratingly true.
It is a characteristic of happiness that makes it a heart-wrenchingly beautiful thing.
For happy are those who seek out happiness in the darkest of times, for they shall find it.
Happy are those that revel in its beauty for they shall be motivated to seek out more.
Happy are those that find more for they shall have enough to share.
Happy are those that share, for they make the world a better place.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"
Sincerely,
Muku
Dedication: To Ruth - It takes two to DMC about the nature of happiness. Thank you!
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
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