Be the Reason Someone Smiles

I apologize for not writing recently. I’ve been struggling with happiness, no less. Well, I should put some clarity on that: I’ve been confronting other emotional baggage that has affected my happiness. Stress, sleeplessness, and unhappiness have initiated a bitter battle of cause and effect.

 

Happiness Only Real When Shared

In Into the Wild, a movie based on Jon Krakauer’s book by the same title, Christopher McCandless concludes, “Happiness only real when shared.” McCandless set out on a wilderness expedition into Alaska, living off the land and carrying with him random objects to either help him survive or document his journey. His odyssey was one of self discovery and enlightenment, as, prior to departing for Alaska, he had given up traditional societal norms by donating his savings and destroying his identification documents, among others.

 

The American Dream: Happiness ‘n Stuff

We live in a society in which we’re judged based on our stuff. Your clothes. The finest jewelry. That extra inch on your big-screen TV, because 51 inches is just inadequate. The sweet ride parked in your garage, all blinged out, from hood ornament to rims. A sprawling house on a palatial estate. A summer cottage in the woods.

 

Happiness and the Sense of Home

If home isn’t where the heart is, it is where one’s sense of belonging exists. Granted, there are exceptions to not every rule but most. Some people, from the girl who resents her parents for forcing her small-town residence to the male who doesn’t get along with his father to the starving musician needing an escape to Hollywood, may hate their homes and will do everything in their power to get away.

 

The Unhappiness Rut

I feel as if I must explain. My previous post sent shockwaves across my audience, “Oooh, did you hear? Cory is depressed.” That’s not the case. I’m sure I suffer from a certain amount of depression — I won’t deny it — but this isn’t about a clinical diagnosis and how I can cure chronic sadness with a drug. Depression is a very real and serious mental illness, and I lack the academic authority on such a matter. Unhappiness and depression are not interchangeable terms and cannot be treated as synonymous (certainly, depression can be an element standing in the way of one’s search for happiness).