Napolitano 1 Nicole Napolitano Professor Susan Lago English 1100 College Writing 8 December 2013 The Necessity of Sadness

s What is happiness? Each individual can define their own happiness leaving the question with endless answers. Happiness is not something that can be forced. It is an emotion that comes naturally that is effected by the people and environment that the individual is surrounded by. In order to obtain true happiness, one must reach true sadness. Sadness is essential in order to retain pure happiness without searching and make an individual stronger because once rock bottom is hit, there is no place to go but up from there. On October 29th 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast destroying everything in its path. Residents along the East Coast as well as surrounding areas were dramatically affected by this tragedy, which caused a major upset throughout the tri-state area. A major iconic area for New Jersey, the Jersey Shore, was completely destroyed by the storm. My Twitter, Instragram, and Facebook news feed blew up with tears that were shed over the destruction of an area that hit close to home. The East Coast had reached rock bottom. Organizations began collected any donations and community service that they could in order to get the community back up and running. These organizations gave people hope and caused their level or sadness to begin repairing itself. When the shore was reopened for the summer, happiness was retained again. Happiness is regained again unconsciously. There cannot be a search for individual happiness, it must come on its own through development. The essay In Pursuit of Happiness, written by Mark Kingwell, illustrates a well-

Napolitano 2 balanced point. Kingwell states, The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness (Kingwell 414). Some people make it their destiny to find the definition of true happiness. Happiness is one of those bottomless subjects that are limitless in meaning. It reflects into every individual differently. No two people can be the exact same. The diverse population is the reason why there can never be a specific answer to what is happiness. Going off of Kingwells statement, everyone at one point in their life will search for their true happiness. If an indivudal searches, they will lead to sadness. True Happiness will not be able to be reached which will cause the individual to stop searching. Once they stop searching, their sadness will begin to turn into happiness and without recognition, true happiness will be achieved. Searching for this answer will only lead to constant sadness. Its beholder can only define true happiness as long as they are not searching. Jennifer Senior wrote in her essay, Some Dark Thoughts on Happiness, about a man named Philip Brickman. Brickmans studies focused on the basic questions what is happiness? and what does it take to achieve it? At the age of 38 he committed suicide. Senior writes, There is an untold distance between knowing happiness and knowing about it. And sometimes, to our blinking incomprehension, that distance can only be measured in the space between this life and the next (Senior 428). Brickman consumed most of his life on happiness. He put so much attention into this idea that he was able to overcome that invisible line that happiness draws. His suicide inquires that his constant search of happiness is the reason why he was unable to achieve true happiness. Brickmans search led him to be blurred from reality. He was stuck in between the invisible line of happiness vs. sadness. He was unable to see either emotion. Instead, he retained severe depression, which led to his suicide. Individuals can sometimes become stuck in between happiness vs. sadness and this halt

Napolitano 3 could lead to various emotional states including depression. Senior exclaims, Yet people in the happiest countries are more likely to kill themselves (Senior 426). There is two possible ways to look at this. Are these people truly happy? In this day in age, many individuals allegedly claim they are happy but in many situations like this, they are lying. When the person tells himself or herself they are happy, eventually it will lead to them believing they are happy; blinded by reality. Psychologically changing their mindset temporarily obscures the truth. But there is a positive side to this; by being happy it accounts for others happiness. Another way to decipher this idea is that individuals happiness can leads to the greater sadness of others. Take a look at celebrities. These individuals spend millions of dollars on clothes, cars, houses, accessories, and electronics when some struggle to even afford basic necessities like food. We envy the riches when in reality they are not much happier then normal people. Money may not be an issue but the judgmental side of society is. I was curious to see whether I am composed of a more happy or sad emotion. I took the Authentic Happiness Test and received a 3.29. My life is a rollercoaster of continuous highs and lows. When my life becomes rough I hit rock bottom in most situations. Over the past year I lost contact with most of my family due to various reasons. The emotional state of my mind was indescribable. Eventually the situation became a realization that it is all a part of life. Eventually I began to realize that I was put on this Earth for a reason. I cannot be sad all my life when I have a loving mother, father and sister. They gave me hope and from then I was much more content with myself. I realized that we are meant to go through these points in order to reassure ourselves of the inner strength that each individual carries Sadness is essential in order to make an individual stronger. This emotion shapes each and every person in his or her own unique way. Sadness is the foundation of happiness. There

Napolitano 4 will always be hardships in life that may not always be easy to overcome but with the right mindset there is good outcomes. When the feeling of sadness arises, empower the emotion, and take charge. Sadness is the start of something new and an eye-opener to unfamiliar ideas. Suffering is a part of us. There is no escape from the rough times. Its bittersweet meaning it was brought on by unhappy experiences but at the same time it resurfaces those memorable times in life. When one door of happiness closes, another one will open as long as the individual doesnt become lost in the journey of sadness. There is a possibility that life is not all about searching, reaching, accomplishing, and repeating. Sadness may have answers that no one has even thought about.

Napolitano 5 Kingwell, Mark. In Pursuit Of Happiness Writing and Reading Across The Curriculum. Ed. Behrens, Laurence and Rosen, Leonard J. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2013, 2011, and 2008. Print Senior, Jennifer. Some Dark Thoughts On Happiness Writing and Reading Across The Curriculum. Ed. Behrens, Laurence and Rosen, Leonard J. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2013, 2011, and 2008. Print