...clap your hands

Recently on the Today Show they were talking about happiness. I was only half-listening because I was getting ready for work, but what I gleaned from it was that people (What people? Scientists? Think tank gurus?) are trying to figure out how happiness can be calculated and explained through scientific methods. As much as I tend to take the scientific high road in this world (what with believing in that wacky theory of evolution and all), I confess that I have qualms with this idea because it smacks of a one-size-fits-all mentality. It’s like it’s saying that A + B = happiness, when in reality, the definition of happiness is too fluid, too ephemeral, to be easily dissected and…well, defined.

I do think science (ie, brain chemistry) plays a large hand in it. If the chemicals in your brain are making you depressed, no amount of positive circumstances are going to make you happy, just like having vast wealth and a healthy brain won’t make your pancreas voluntarily produce more insulin if you’re diabetic. The same thing goes for brain damage. If the emotion-generating sections of your brain are damaged, it’s going to affect your relationship with happiness.

But when it comes to experiencing happiness, science isn’t the only factor. I really don’t think there is an easy formula for calculating this particular emotion. I do, however, think there is a certain degree of choice in the matter; if your brain chemistry isn’t plunging you into despair or sparking false manic happiness, and if your brain hasn’t been damaged, the choice to be happy on any particular day, with any particular set of circumstances, can be up to you. You see it in the people who lost everything from Katrina or the Pakistani earthquake or the war in Iraq and yet still manage to find joy in their lives.

More often than that, as common sense seems to dictate, happiness is influenced by a constellation of factors which differ from person to person. There’s no set formula. Some people need to be alone to be happy; others need to be with others. Some people need autonomy and independence; others need constant guidance. Some people need a lot of money and possessions; others need very little money and lots of simplicity; others need a mix of both (enough money to pay the bills, but minimalism otherwise). Some people are only happy when they travel the world; others are only happy in their own backyard. Some people are happy when playing instruments, others when creating art, others when kicking around a soccer ball. Some are happy figuring out mathematical equations; others are happy avoiding numbers like the plague (that’d be me!).

I’ve got my own criteria for happiness, but sometimes my moods, even when medicated, have a mind of their own. Amazing, really, how slivers of bliss can erupt from the most unseemly circumstances.



song heard most recently before posting: Don’t Fear the Reaper—Gus Gus