The Paradoxical Nature of Happiness

The paradoxical nature of happiness seems to be part and parcel of happiness itself. It is always deferred, it is always present, yet it seems to never be present and always just out of reach. Bombarded on a minute-to-minute basis, modern humans stand in front of a mirror of desires, advertisements are tailored to our personal needs. Smart devices know us better than we know ourselves. A mirror in our pocket. Yet, happiness seems farther away than ever, out of reach, yet, at our fingertips.

A touch away, a click away, happiness is behind our screens, on our screens, never there, yet always there.

Always there.

We are sold desire, not something we desire, but desire itself. And again rather paradoxically, we desire that we never stop to desire. An endless desire, a constant deferral of happiness. We know this, as we never seek to find that one thing that makes us happy. We are happy (complacent) with thousands of meaningless things.

We are constantly bombarded with meaninglessness that feeds the desiring machines we are.

Yet, we seem to intuitively know that behind the veil of self-deceit that there is more to this game of endless desire that constantly defers itself. Something more has to be present, there must be a stage in life where happiness is more than just Deferred Meaning. Happiness cannot be a void that just keeps on consuming. Nothing in life is endless, the fundamentals of our understanding are based on the notion that nothing can carry on forever.

Happiness is ...

Ice cream.

The fundamental premise of happiness seems to be the lack of pain, that is, pleasure, being happy, being...

Being vs. Becoming: Happiness as Something Yet To Come

We stumble upon an underlying problem. Happiness — the state of being happy, devoid of pain, in pleasure — seems to rely on being, a stagnant idea. It does not move. It is the end, a blockage, a dead end. It ends at being.

But happiness is always changing, and here we are back at deferral, postponement, delay.

Happiness is always changing, becoming happy, not being happy...

Becoming happy.

Becoming Happy

Life is a river of endless and constant change. The myth of permanence is narrowly linked to happiness — that there is some permanent state one can enter to achieve happiness. Enough money, enough possessions, enough.

But this relies on the idea of permanence, that money will always have worth, and that there will always be roads for cars to drive one. If we take home one lesson from nature and history it is that everything changes.

And that is why you have to enjoy now, not being happy, but always already becoming happy. It starts with realizing that happiness is not something one can possess, access, gain, grab, feel, and so on. Happiness is not something permanent, not being, not there. Happiness is becoming, always already something else, change itself.

Therefore, Happiness is not Desire

Desire is sold to the modern human in exchange for happiness. Becoming happy relies on one realizing that it is not stored away in endless deferral or postponement. Happiness is not fixed, permanent, present, nor is it deferral or delay, desire, no.

Happiness is becoming aware of the constant change in oneself, realizing that one is never being but always becoming. And that is not becoming someone, something, because that already again relies on being, permanence, stagnance. Becoming is always already provisionally accepting change; change itself is not permanent.

Becoming happy is enjoying an ice cream today in the present because tomorrow one might not want that ice cream anymore.

All of the images are my own, taken with my iPhone. The musings are also my own. I hope you are becoming happy and that you are relishing in the fact that you are always in flux.