The Thinking Sapling

Happiness is an odd thing. Like other emotions, it clearly comes from within ourselves and seems possible, though dreadful, to exist without it. We can’t even command ourselves to feel emotions in the same manner we command our hands to move or our eyes to shut.

Unlike many other emotions, it is desirable. We have been told to reign in our feelings, but few would tell you out of genuine care that you are too happy. Is it not rather fascinating that we yearn for something that comes from within ourselves, yet must rely on our current experience to induce it?

Contentment is a view of the world. It’s not that we can will ourselves to be happy, but we become such by finding corners of this life that feel such. For example, if seeing the sun is a valuable experience, you can’t stay inside, you have to go out there.

Yet, night is also part of the experience. If you seek the sun in the sky at night, you will never find it. It’s much worse for happiness since, unlike the sun, we don’t know if it will come back again. So once that moment of joy has passed, that’s it? Is it now impossible to find it once more?

Here we are stranded without the burning sphere. We stand now in the darkened sky and the cold wind. I ran, trying to follow it to a new horizon, but alas, I shan’t catch it, and all is woe. The night gets colder and darker. Now, all the more aware, I wait out for the embracing dawn.

It is torturous longing for something that won’t be present, but I’ve forgotten to look around. The sky is not pitch black nor the air freezing. It seems not all is gone, but how could that be? The moon and stars still shine in the night sky. There’s a bonfire we’ve lit, which might keep us cosy.

Is it the sun? No, nothing is the sun other than the great flames themselves. Yet, if what you value about it is its light, warmth, and grandeur, realise that other things possess these qualities as well. There is no need to wait for the morning sun to feel glee when these things are right here and now.

Entangled with our reality, happiness is a measure of the world as we perceive it. There are certain things that when seen make us happy. And while we can’t force ourselves to turn our frowns upside-down, we can learn to notice the little moments of joy that life presents to us.