What is happiness?


This is a question that everyone struggles to define. But I would have to say that I believe that the person who has come closest to defining it is Tom Shadyac. Although I do not completely agree with him, I believe he comes the closest because he didn’t only believe that what he thought was right, he actually took action. He talked to all different kinds of people like Journalists, Scientists, Environmentalists, etc. He didn’t just go out searching for an answer to happiness but accidently came across it. His actual question was, “What is wrong with our world?”, but he came closer to defining happiness by the end of his search. His idea of happiness is connection, as if one person was born permanently happy and has spread it like a disease. He believes that happiness comes from within ourselves and other people.


The next person I believe that has a pretty good conception of happiness is Thomas Merton. He doesn’t talk about happiness in the same way as Tom Shadyac, but he doesn’t exactly disagree either. He is the kind of person that likes to sit alone in a cabin just to enjoy the company of the rain. H says, “just being in the woods, at night, in the cabin, is something too excellent to be justified or explained.” Obviously, one of his views of finding happiness is solitude.


Another person who has a good idea on happiness is Tom Douglas. Tom is a very wealthy employer who has employees at many restaurants. He has a very nice house and a nice car and pretty much the money to buy all the things he could want. But Tom realizes with all the things he has, that just having all of these “material things” aren’t making him happy. He originally paid his workers $12 to $13 until one day he decided to increase his workers’ pay up to $15 dollars. I believe that he realizes how lucky he has been and he knows how hard it is to start from where his workers started and make their way up to where they need and want to be. He realizes that if employers keep paying their employees a low salary, they will eventually get a higher paying job and leave the one they have. But Tom Douglas doesn’t want his workers to be unhappy and leave their job for a higher paying job. He wants them to feel like they can make it with the job they have. He realizes that it feels right to give back to society for the society somehow making him lucky enough to be where he is today. He says he wants to, “Justify a better living for them.”


My idea of happiness isn’t just one of these philosophies. It’s closer to all three of these combined. I do believe that connection to other people can make us happy, but at the same time I believe that you can be alone in solitude and be happy. I believe you can be happy with or without having social interaction. For example, if I was to be accompanied by a person whom I know and get along with I could probably be happy, but, also, if I was accompanied by a person that I do not get along with then there is definitely a chance that I will not be happy with their company. I don’t believe it’s a question of “will I be happy with the company of another person?”, which is what I believe Tom Shadyac was trying to say. I believe the question is, “if there is another person there, how are they interacting with me?”. For example, if I am going to enter a building and someone, whether they are a good friend or bad friend, decides to hold the door open for me then quite possibly I would be happy. But, on the other hand, if the same person decided to pull the door closed once they got to it when I walked up to it them, then I’m sure that would tick anybody off. So in a way I do agree with Tom Shadyac about how connection with other people makes us happy. But, I would add that not just any social connection makes us happy, I believe it’s HOW we connect with other people.


To build from that, I would take from what Tom Merton said and say that you don’t only need connection from other people. I’m not saying that material things make us happy, because I don’t think that me or any three of these people would agree with that, but I am saying that you can be alone and find happiness through solitude. Also, I would add to that what Tom Douglas actually did. I want to say that giving to other people is a really easy way to make yourself and the receiver happy. “All you need is LOVE,” says Tom Shadyac and The Beatles.


I’m sure that a lot of people may disagree with my thoughts on happiness. The people who disagree have to realise that happiness differs on each person’s perspective, so just because I believe this is what can make happy doesn’t mean anyone else is wrong, it just means we all have different versions.