Whenever I feel sad, I have no difficulty in pinpointing sources of my sadness. It could be domestic dissonance or work-related issues or boredom or empty pocket. But I feel completely lost when I try to locate sources of my happiness. I feel happy because I am happy. There are times when I feel an inner sense of calm and delight even when I know that I have no reason to be happy about. So happiness, in my opinion, has an aura of enigma about it. I wish I were able to unravel the secret of happiness that gives me freedom, allows me to face challenges when the odds are against them and persuades me to de-clutter my mind. For me, happiness may also bring anxiety, a feeling that the state of being happy may be shortlived. Happiness is no big empire that extends to distant frontiners beyond which is despair. It is in fact a cabin that shields you from being unhappy.
I would not have dared to reason about happines, but for the thoughts that crossed my mind while I was watching the movie `Pursuit of Happyness' (yes Happyness) directed by Gabriele Muccino in which Will Smith plays the lead role of a salesman (Chris Gardner) struggling to cope with his crumbling marriage and his dream to be a stock broker. There are touching moments when Chris along with his child Christopher (Jaden Smith, Will Smith's own son) is forced to leave his house by his landlord, and struggles with homelessness and a night in jail. He undergoes stressfull and non-paying internship to be the stock broker. At the end of the film, his pursuit of happiness leads him to success as he has been selected for the lucratic career. The movie is a typical Holleywood box office film and it highlights the idea of American Dream. What has attracted me is the film's repeated reference to the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson, who was the principal author of the declaration. A key sentence of the declaration is: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” It gives a sense that happiness is worth pursuing, though there is no guarantee that what you are chasing after will not keep on evading you. Could it be that happiness is not a destination but the journey itself? A journey in which we burrow our ways into thick walls of despair to reach the ephemeral destination?
I would not have dared to reason about happines, but for the thoughts that crossed my mind while I was watching the movie `Pursuit of Happyness' (yes Happyness) directed by Gabriele Muccino in which Will Smith plays the lead role of a salesman (Chris Gardner) struggling to cope with his crumbling marriage and his dream to be a stock broker. There are touching moments when Chris along with his child Christopher (Jaden Smith, Will Smith's own son) is forced to leave his house by his landlord, and struggles with homelessness and a night in jail. He undergoes stressfull and non-paying internship to be the stock broker. At the end of the film, his pursuit of happiness leads him to success as he has been selected for the lucratic career. The movie is a typical Holleywood box office film and it highlights the idea of American Dream. What has attracted me is the film's repeated reference to the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson, who was the principal author of the declaration. A key sentence of the declaration is: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” It gives a sense that happiness is worth pursuing, though there is no guarantee that what you are chasing after will not keep on evading you. Could it be that happiness is not a destination but the journey itself? A journey in which we burrow our ways into thick walls of despair to reach the ephemeral destination?
1 comment:
Happiness is the tip of a deep sorrow, my dear friend, did no one tell you that? So stop looking for it.
Let happiness chase you instead!
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