What is happiness? Eric Weiner
travels looking for answers, for me specifically I observed the notion of
happiness when he visited Switzerland. He titles the chapter: “Happiness is
Boredom”. This in itself seems to be a confusing notion, but he explains
himself. We are all familiar with Swiss perfection whether we refer to its
chocolate, it’s punctual trains, government benefits (Health insurance and
education), cleanliness and above all, happiness. We always have this place as
a perfect comparison: they’re neutral on wars, they have high paying minimum salaries,
one of the lowest crime rates, and they rank high on all happiness scales.
However, when we read Weiner’s initial impressions we start to comprehend the
initial comment about how happiness is boredom. He describes the Swiss person
to be uneventful, they lack humor and overall live in a society were everything
is regulated and in a sense perfect. additionally, when Weiner asks the Swiss about
what it means to be happy they come back to perfect elements of their society
(clean toilets, punctual system, etc.). They
seem to find tranquility and bliss in that everything works and that society
gives you, but is this happiness? I find this to be essentially contradictory
to happiness, as this quote from the Dalai Lama states: “Happiness is not
something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” In this regard, happiness is not something
your satisfied or that you find from time to time. The Swiss have a great
connection with nature, as Weiner experiences when he visits the alps; but, even
he understands that this feeling of bliss is a temporary one and more of peace
than of happiness. The Swiss have mastered what Weiner calls conjoyment: “Something
more than mere contentment but less than full on joy. “Conjoyment,” perhaps.
Yes, that’s what the Swiss possess: utter conjoyment. We could use this word to
describe all kinds of situations where we feel joyful yet calm at the same
time.”
I believe happiness is the
expression of working to find something within yourself that lights a fire that
nothing can cease. It is euphoric and not placid when encountered. In a sense,
I believe that Puerto Ricans, even though we face many obstacles (Extreme crime
rates, hurricanes, debt and corruption), we manage to find happiness. Contrary
to what many believe the economic situation one faces is not completely
enticing of your happiness. Puerto Ricans are fighters and they strive to be
better every day whether it entails working harder to push the island forward
or just to help out with the family or find your own niche in society. I
believe that even though we receive so much bad publicity, moments of joy are
found in the small things in our society. For example, random acts of kindness
that don’t pay anything back, but they drive the morale. Puerto Ricans have
this innate sense of turning bad situations into good ones. For example, if
your neighbour loses power, you invite him over or give him power. When you’re
invited to a funeral you’re there for that person, but you also celebrate, we’re
not shy about this, we celebrate life and we try to find joy. Even if this
happiness may cost us more than swiss happiness and seems like it might be
sporadic at times, we are proud to fight for that happiness and trying to light
a spark to truly be happy, and not just content.
Here's El Velorio by Francisco Oller
I do find it hilarious that the thing that brings Switzerland "happiness" is, basically, organization. On the other hand I can understand it, because when you look at public transportation or government offices in Puerto Rico its plain to see that it is a disaster zone if you do not arrive at the correct time. Puerto Ricans do have a the good graces to make good things happen out of bad situations, just a few months ago a friend of mine died and though it was more than an occasion to grieve her parents decided to make it into a celebration of her life by asking us to attend the funeral in t-shirts that depicted tv-shows, movies and bands that she loved and having us speak about how we met.
ReplyDeleteNice blog, you expressed yourself really well. The Swiss happiness is surely on the is strange for most countries especially Latino ones, I think. We tend to be disorganized and the word punctual does not exist in our dictionaries. Nonetheless, like you said we find happiness in helping each other. We are like a big family and we are indeed fighters struggling to survive. I consider myself very boring so I relate more to the Swiss than my own country funny enough, but I must say that everyone finds happiness in different ways and their is no correct way of doing so.
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