Happiness and Meaning
Essential questions:
1. What is the purpose of your existence?
2. What is happiness and what makes you happy?
3. What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
4. To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
(Link to project description: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5ktO3NLUDlcems1NU1kbjZudWM/view?pli=1)
Art Piece Project Proposal:
Do the stars move and collide at a designated location? Do the trees stretch its fingers in the atmosphere, reaching for something? Do the birds sing in unison, rejoicing for their existence?
Basically, no. The harmony of nature does not serve nor live for anything outside of this world. The tiniest organisms in the Earth’s depths of soil survives and trudges on without acknowledging any omnipotent force controlling their fate. I do not believe there is a purpose to my existence. Personally, I don’t like the idea of having a purpose. It reminds me of communism. Does it remind you of communism? A branch of communism enforces ideas of maintaining a forced career choice for the rest of your life. Imagine having to fulfill a role you were born with that you don’t even want! A caste system, almost! Anyway, even if there was a magical force/spirit assigning destinies for everyone, would I really want to follow the rules? Is the magical force/spirit considerate? Considering this world and its history of utter pandemonium it’s hard to imagine it would be. A different idea I have thought of is the reincarnation. The Law of Conservation of Energy plays into it. Think of this law and the rules. It’s similar to reincarnation. All energy never disappears, it is simply transferred. Will my body or even soul, evolve into something or someone else? Into another time being? (Did you get that reference..?) Reincarnating over and over and over and over and over…and over… seems pretty cool. But then again, I still wouldn’t know the purpose of that process!
My point is, I don’t know and probably never will know the reasons behind seasons, explanations for connotations, or solutions behind all the pollution. I think I’m okay with this. I find bits and pieces of happiness in my life already, despite no confirmed knowledge of the after-life. I wish to live a life, fulfilling my dreams of research in medical and science fields. I aspire to travel the world. I want to maximize all of my skills. I desire to help people, may it be through small instances or larger. These are goals that I personally believe would grant me satisfaction in life. But is that all? I read a statement from a Chinese native that read, “Westerners fixate happiness as an end goal when it’s actually an emotion that comes and goes throughout life just like any other emotion.” Happiness rises when I succeed. Joy surfaces when I burst into tears from laughing at me and my best friend’s inside jokes. Relief surfaces when fear dissolves. Excitement bubbles when I’m waiting for good news. These experiences give me my daily dose of needed happiness every day. So, I believe I can be happy with a life of uncertainty, big goals to reach, and everyday moments to appreciate.
Essential questions:
1. What is the purpose of your existence?
2. What is happiness and what makes you happy?
3. What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
4. To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
(Link to project description: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5ktO3NLUDlcems1NU1kbjZudWM/view?pli=1)
Art Piece Project Proposal:
Do the stars move and collide at a designated location? Do the trees stretch its fingers in the atmosphere, reaching for something? Do the birds sing in unison, rejoicing for their existence?
Basically, no. The harmony of nature does not serve nor live for anything outside of this world. The tiniest organisms in the Earth’s depths of soil survives and trudges on without acknowledging any omnipotent force controlling their fate. I do not believe there is a purpose to my existence. Personally, I don’t like the idea of having a purpose. It reminds me of communism. Does it remind you of communism? A branch of communism enforces ideas of maintaining a forced career choice for the rest of your life. Imagine having to fulfill a role you were born with that you don’t even want! A caste system, almost! Anyway, even if there was a magical force/spirit assigning destinies for everyone, would I really want to follow the rules? Is the magical force/spirit considerate? Considering this world and its history of utter pandemonium it’s hard to imagine it would be. A different idea I have thought of is the reincarnation. The Law of Conservation of Energy plays into it. Think of this law and the rules. It’s similar to reincarnation. All energy never disappears, it is simply transferred. Will my body or even soul, evolve into something or someone else? Into another time being? (Did you get that reference..?) Reincarnating over and over and over and over and over…and over… seems pretty cool. But then again, I still wouldn’t know the purpose of that process!
My point is, I don’t know and probably never will know the reasons behind seasons, explanations for connotations, or solutions behind all the pollution. I think I’m okay with this. I find bits and pieces of happiness in my life already, despite no confirmed knowledge of the after-life. I wish to live a life, fulfilling my dreams of research in medical and science fields. I aspire to travel the world. I want to maximize all of my skills. I desire to help people, may it be through small instances or larger. These are goals that I personally believe would grant me satisfaction in life. But is that all? I read a statement from a Chinese native that read, “Westerners fixate happiness as an end goal when it’s actually an emotion that comes and goes throughout life just like any other emotion.” Happiness rises when I succeed. Joy surfaces when I burst into tears from laughing at me and my best friend’s inside jokes. Relief surfaces when fear dissolves. Excitement bubbles when I’m waiting for good news. These experiences give me my daily dose of needed happiness every day. So, I believe I can be happy with a life of uncertainty, big goals to reach, and everyday moments to appreciate.