The Search for Happiness Essay - 1026 Words

The search for happiness has been one of the greatest driving forces over the ages. Defined as an active or passive sense of pleasure or satisfaction, happiness drives individuals to accomplish a number of fulfilling activities in their lives. Thus an evaluation of meanings attached to happiness provides insight on how an individual maximizes their pleasure. Concepts of positive-psychology provide an explanation of what is happiness and show a number of activities that enhance contentment. Najemy (89) argues that the theory of authentic happiness provides an approach for explaining happiness since it employs positive emotions, engagement, and meaning to describe such emotion. The theory states that happiness is the feeling that†¦show more content†¦The well-being theory contends that those aspects are important in evaluating happiness since they contribute to an individual’s well-being, individuals for their own sake pursue them, and they are evaluated differently. The theory also discussed the significance of utilizing meaning in explaining happiness. According to Ahmed (124), attaching meaning to an individual’s activities draws higher pleasures since individuals derive purpose from their activities. Concepts of positive psychology argue that happiness in life entails participating in activities that result to the greatest benefit without obligation. Most of these activities involve the creation of meaningful relationships that promote emotional stability hence attracting enjoyment. Diener, Kahneman, and Schwarz (359) argue that different individuals derive happiness from varying activities.For instance, a number of individuals relate marriage and love to happiness and well-being. This is because those who are in love are happier, and healthier than unmarried, single individuals (Ahmed 215).The aspect of good health, and happiness in marriage can be attributed to income, companionship, and childbearing. Further, marriages and relationships foster positive emotions, engagement, meaning, and accomplishments. Based on the authentic happiness and well-being theories, marriage falls in the category of activities that promote fulfillment andShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Hector And The Search For Happiness1113 Words   |  5 PagesHector and the Search for Happiness, an awesome movie that allowed me to rediscover what happiness truly is and opened up my mind to its many other concepts. The movies main character is a young physiatrist named Hector, as the movie plays out Hector begins to travel the world in search of the true definition of happiness and what happiness means to the people around him. Hector’s destinations were China, Africa, and L.A. I believe that the settings affect the development of Hector’ character inRead MoreThe Search Of Happiness By Jeff Haden1463 Words   |  6 PagesIn the search of happiness, meaning makes an impact. When we experience happiness, we are placing meaning to that specific event. The association we make and link our happiness too has to have meaning. The reason person A enjoys long walks at the park and associates them with happiness is because it brings back happy childhood memories. Person B may not associate long walks at the park with happiness, but Sunday meals with the family with happiness. The reason different people have different meaningsRead MoreAnalysis Of Hector And The Search For Happiness904 Words   |  4 Pages They experience a journey in which they grow and learn, see and f eel, as does Hector in his search for happiness. In the film â€Å"Hector and the search for happiness,† the main character, Hector embarks on a journey. In his journey, Hector learns that happiness is feeling completely alive, listening is loving and happiness is being loved for who you are. Throughout his journey, Hector learns that happiness is feeling completely alive. In the beginning of the film Hector portraits unhappiness in hisRead MoreSearch For Happiness : The Ancients Before Christianity908 Words   |  4 PagesSearch for Happiness: The Ancients before Christianity The ancient people’s ideas of happiness are surprisingly common to today. In the writings of Seneca, stoicism is shown in their joy through philosophy and the present life. Happiness to them is internal. â€Å"The Bhagavad Gita† shows that happiness is found in Brahman. This is achieved through reincarnation. Confucius shared the ideas of Taoism that happiness is in unity. The ways to achieve unity are filial piety, education, and ritual accordingRead MoreThe Pursuit Of Happiness Is The Universal Search For A Life841 Words   |  4 Pages The pursuit of happiness is the universal search for a life an individual can feel content and satisfied with. However, as stated in class, happiness is a fleeting emotion rather than a prolonged state. Once an individual achieves a sense of happiness it is only a matter of time before they return to the starting point of their quest. Therefore, happiness alone is not enough to elicit a good life. On a similar note, in 2004, Professor Martin Seligman gave a TED talk that addressed the currentRead MoreThe Search For Happiness By Benjamin Franklin And Jonathan Edwards1616 Words   |  7 PagesOscar Chavez Professor Hellenbrand English 473 15 October 2015 The Search For Happiness As two prominent heroes of the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Edwards mastered the art of religious theology and the sciences. Although their uprisings differed, they shared a drive for success and individual approach. Sharing an interest in similar fields, their ideals of religion and fulfillment became very different, which helped shape their own future endeavors. I will consider Edwards andRead MoreEssay about The Search For Happiness in Jon Krakauers Into the Wild464 Words   |  2 Pagesmake sense of McCandless’ journey to the Alaskan wilderness. However, he never really figured out what McCandless’ purpose of the trip was. Looking at McCandless’ life throughout the book, I believe that Chris McCandless went on his journey to find happiness within his own life and did achieve it in the end. Throughout his adolescent to young adult years it was very clear that Chris had an attachment to the wild. In chapter 11, as Walt reminisces about Chris and their family camp trips he reflectsRead MoreCandide By Voltaire And The Song `` Pursuit Of Happiness `` By Kid Cudi1389 Words   |  6 Pageslife special, spectacular, or one of a kind. Today, this search is known to the world as the â€Å"pursuit of happiness†. The phrase use was heightened during the enlightenment period and lingered for long after. This impact of its use did not only impact the way life was looked at but also impacted the arts during that time and for the future. Two pieces that show this evidence is the novel Candide by Voltaire and the song â€Å"Pursuit of Happiness† by Kid Cudi. Both of these works, even though they wereRead MoreCultural Variants in Health and Happiness Essay example890 Words   |  4 Pagesmainly on qi (Littlejohn). While Dr. Yuan-ling Chao’s lecture about Chinese medicine was about maintaining balance by avoiding the extreme aspects of life (Chao). Happiness in both cases is found through balancing all aspects of life, including: temperature, diet and emotions (Smith). We also heard a lecture titled â€Å"Health and Happiness: Reducing Stress,† which covered how to manage stress in the American culture and ended up going slightly off topic into the prevalence of academic enhancement substancesRead MoreInto the Wild vs. Catcher in the Rye1479 Words   |  6 PagesWHY HAPPINESS IS ESSENTIAL TO LIFE: â€Å"Happiness is not something already made. It comes from your actions† –Dalai Lama J.D. Salinger’s world-renowned book The Catcher in the Rye and director Sean Penn’s dramatic feature film Into the Wild both give us a unique perspective of society through a collection of descriptive imagery and riveting plot development. Both materials present us with protagonists Holden Caulfield and Chris McCandless, whom are deeply encompassed by self-introspection and who

Aesthetic Music Educatin and the Influence of Bennett Reimer

An explicit concept since the late 1950s, aesthetic education first developed to provide a strong philosophical foundation for music education and continues to evolve as a solid theoretical orientation for current effective practices. Bennett Reimer has contributed much to the discussion and development of the value of aesthetic education for the teaching and learning of music. Others in music education also support and promote these ideals and focus on developing an improved understanding for music educators. Some scholars oppose the principles of an aesthetic education, recently demonstrated by David Elliott who favors a praxial philosophy of music education centered on musical performance. The work of Reimer shows an influence of these†¦show more content†¦Only with that awareness can the teacher adequately portray a genuine representation of the artistic values of music to students. Reimer describes aesthetic education as â€Å"the development of a sensitivity to the aesthetic qualities of things.† He consciously avoids using the term â€Å"definition† yet provides a much-appreciated explanation that achieves that function. Reimer further illustrates that MEAE should encourage our ability to perceive and respond to conditions of musical relationships (e.g. tension-release, expectation-deviation) in perceptible objects and events. Musical works may possess various qualities (such as functional ones), but the primary significance of music should lie in its aesthetic value. If we abandon this unique characterization of music and emphasize its societal role, we risk degrading ourselves as well as our work. As teachers, we mediate the interactions between our students and aesthetic objects and should seek to improve these relationships with different experiences. Yet, we must first ensure that students have the ability to perceive expressive conditions as well as the ability to respond to them. Reimer distinguishes that effective MEAE cultivates a person’s â€Å"ability to yield meanings from (a work of art’s) structures of interrelated sounds and to transform words, images, ideas, emotions, and any other socially

Americans Making Shoes Essay Example For Students

Americans Making Shoes Essay Americansacross this beautiful nation do not want to spend time making shoes in thistechnological society. Americans would not want to also spend even moremoney on shoes today, so society allows third-world countries to make shoesa lot cheaper, and gives money to meager families. With technology risingrapidly every day, machines could even be made to make shoes, instead ofpaying people to make them. With machines, the world works faster andcheaper. Some people may say that making shoes gives the unemployed ajob, but those people making those shoes are not really happy. They are justgetting by with the money they make. Picking up trash for the neighborhood isa job, but most of the trash collectors do not like their job. Americans wouldlike, to some extent, to sit in from of a computer being paid good money,rather than standing on an assembly line making shoes. UnemployedAmericans, though, might not mind working for a company who makes shoesin the United States. These unemployed Americ ans would, moderately, notmind any job that paid money. Americans like good things at reasonableprices. If shoe companies would employ workers in the United States tomake shoes here, with prices already high, would rise even higher. Americanswould then not even buy American made shoes. Americans would not likeAmericans making shoes in the United States, because shoe prices wouldrocket. Americans look at their jobs as a way of expressing themselves. When talking about their job, they would not enjoy describing how they sewon the symbols for the shoes they make. Instead, they would like to talk abouthow good their pay is or how their job challenges them or even how muchthey like working at their job. If their job were to make shoes, they would notrelish in the fact that they made shoes. Americans like good paying jobs, agood foundation for a family, and good working places. With a shoe factory,jobs are not that great, it is not a reliable foundation for a family, andespecially they are not good working conditions. Some argue that makingshoes is in some manner like making clothes. It is not, for the fact that theworkers follow the same design throughout the entire day. Most clothes wornby Americans are not American made either. They are made in third worldcountries, just like the shoes. America is no longer relying on industry to carryit to the next millennium. Instead, America is relying on the rapid growth oftechnology and free enterprise. In Americas early years, after the taking thiscountry away from the Indians, society relied heavily on industry toaccomplish the tasks needed to grow this country. Today, that is not the case. America is putting industries in the back of its mind, and bringing forth newand exciting technologies. Americans would like to sit in front of a computerscreen and type away, rather than working in labor factories. Americans wantgood quality, with cheap prices. If America would employ shoe factories,shoes would not be cheap or even good quality for that matter. Most ofsociety knows that some of what Americans make is not of the highest quality. Instead, it is made fast and poorly. Americans do not want Americans tomake shoes, because they know that if Americans did make shoes, their feetwould surely hurt even more. Miscellaneous