The Pursuit of Inner Happiness

This post was originally supposed to be about my goals for the month of June but I quickly changed my mind in order to help me relax and collect my thoughts. So here is my where my jibberjabber has brought me:

Definition for happiness:

Web definitions:

state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

For people like Socrates, happiness was "the perfection of the soul. This meant that happiness consisted in an achievement, namely, making one's soul as good as possible.  Happiness is goodness, moral goodness." However, for others like Plato and Thomas Jefferson, happiness was not dependant on the self but rather on the good of the community. It was something selfless and constructed through the well-being of others. Take for the example the Declaration of Independence, a written promise of responsibility to our fellow man and to create a community of model citizens. So what does that mean for me personally? How do I define happiness? Well, I haven't quite figured that out yet. My boyfriend would probably describe my happiness as making sure "others were happy" at the price of my joy, while my parents might think otherwise (they probably attach my label of happiness with my credit card). Well in all honesty, I'm really not quite sure where I'd categorize my happiness so I'll guess I'll start with the things that made me happy today. I mean that's the easiest place to start, right?

1. Waiting impatiently for a few of my friends at the subway station. I know, this really doesn't sound like a happy experience, but it was. I happened to get to the subway station a bit early (actually I was on time but emergencies and misunderstandings "held" up my friends) but looking back at the highlights of today, I couldn't be more grateful for those few sane moments alone. Sitting alone on that bench listening to the songs I just recently downloaded felt sooo incredibly good. No one knew me, no one bothered me, and I felt like I could be anyone at that moment (lame I know). The beauty of being a stranger never quite fascinated me until this very point. It was like I didn't assume any responsibility to anyone, like I was free of guilt, anger, annoyance, sadness. I was not the friend who was waiting for their best bud, the girl who felt left out and under appreciated, not even the girlfriend who felt somewhat rejected. I was just a person sitting at a subway station...I liked that.
2. Finding a copy of "New Moon" (part of the Twilight series if you aren't aware of this) for half the price. Again, you're probably thinking "this girl get's crazier by the moment" but if you listen to my reasoning, you'd understand why. I own all the books in the Twilight series, minus this one. And although they are not the most educational books (I should make a post about why Twilight should not be taught in schools alongside Shakespeare hmmm) I can't help but feel happy, just reading. I never seem to notice when the hours fly by when I'm fully immersed into a good book. Today when I was extremely upset at trivial things, I couldn't help but telling my boyfriend through my tears"I just want to go home and read!" It's like everything is better when you read. Minutes become seconds and soon the day is gone and most likely, the pain with it. So, why am I happy to get this book? Simply because it's another excuse to read something...and also because I secretly wish Edward was my boyfriend (jokes John I know you're probably reading this haha)!
3. The smell of dew. And no I'm not talking about that "wet dog" smell but rather that fresh spring smell. I don't have a long story for this, it's just comforting.
4. Writing this post while listening to acoustic music. I'm actually surprised I can do this (it's always late into the night and I have work in the morning) but there is something so relaxing about writting/blogging. I'm such a private person at times, that it feels nice that I can blab about absolutely anything here. If you hang around with me long enough, I always seem to have a philosophy for everything (and if I don't I'll find one). I question a lot of things and always try to find the deeper meaning behind just about anything in life (sometimes that's my downfall and I really always wonder whether my boyfriend thinks I have a multiple personality disorder). And although this may seem weird, I feel that when I'm blogging I'm talking to the only person that may find me interesting and worth listening to (me, haha). But more than that, writing is just so good for my soul, I can feel it.

So that's about the end of my wandering thoughts, but I would like to leave you (or me, I'm not sure) a little note of advice. I was sitting down on the subway and looked up to see a poser that read,

"One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." 

In other words, live life doing what makes you happy, find what makes you happy...because the unexamined life is truly not worth living.

Thought I'd share some of my happiness <3