Nicole Wiley

4/27/15
Happiness Essay
Sara Price
Section 1
Happiness is a Warm Puppy
In a 1960 comic strip, Charles M. Schultz defined happiness as a Warm Puppy,
however, the concept is happiness is much more complex. Happiness according to the MerriamWebster Dictionary is a state of well-being and contentment or a pleasurable or satisfying
experience, but a feeling of well-being and a good time are only parts of true happiness. As a
background for the study of happiness, dystopian novels illustrate how societies fail in the search
for happiness. Similarly, totalitarian societies in the world tend to reduce human individuality
and govern through a state of fear in its citizens thus limiting freedom, creativity and the pursuit
of happiness. For example in the dystopian novel, Anthem by Ayn Rand, the government
eliminated individuality and kept its citizens in line by fear of punishment, causing the society to
have the knowledge and technology of the Middle Ages even though the story took place in the
future. Throughout this project my concept of happiness has evolved to be that finding meaning
in ones life aids in the search for happiness, and actively working as part of something bigger
than oneself leads towards a happy life; we as a nation need to work towards happiness in our
society.
Although some people would argue that one cannot find happiness in meaning, happiness
and meaning go hand in hand as having meaning in ones life can also help find happiness in that
life. As Tennessee Williams states in his short story, The Catastrophe of Success in which he
critically evaluates his very successful life in terms of happiness, Ask, anyone who has
experienced the kind of success I am talking about-What good is it? Williams was leading a
very successful life, but he felt it had no meaning in it. He fell into a depression that he called a
spiritual dislocation. He found happiness and purpose in his life through the struggle of
creation. Because success doesnt automatically bring meaning to life, overly successful lives
are not usually happy ones. Another example that shows that meaning and happiness go together
is in the movie I Am, where it is stated that people find deep contentment and happiness from
helping others. This concept is a recurring message that can be found in many different places.
For example, the idea is illustrated in this Chinese proverb:
If you want happiness for an hour take a nap.
If you what happiness for a day go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime help someone else.

Helping others gives life a sense of meaning and purpose, which leads to a feeling of happiness,
thus meaning can help find happiness. Meaning is an aid in the never-ending quest for
real, true happiness.

One can actively work towards happiness in their life by achieving intrinsic goals, being
part of something bigger than themselves, and social bonding. In answering his own question of
Then what is good? Tennessee Williams in his story, The Catastrophe of Success, suggests
that pursuing goals includes translating life into pigment or music or bodily movement or poetry
or prose or anything thats dynamic and expressive. This pursuit of creativity gives purpose to
life. Furthermore, in the movie Happy, the narrator states that Denmark is the happiest place on
earth and also that many people there live in multifamily flats. Some of the people in Denmark
live in a type of mini-community, therefore belonging to something bigger than themselves. This
living arrangement offers social bonding in day-to-day life, which could be the one of the
reasons that Denmark is the happiest country. Likewise in the movie Happy, the speaker affirms
that having supportive friends and family make you happy. I believe this support structure
can increase ones happiness, because if the people with whom one enjoys spending
time encourage that person to participate in activities that make him/her happy,
then that person isnt stressed out about whether not those people approve of lives.
Surrounding oneself with positive relationships provides an encouraging
environment to pursue meaningful goals in the quest for happiness in ones life.

We, as a nation need to work towards a happier society by meeting all of the most basic
needs of humans, such as shelter, food and water; as a society we need to place higher value on
cooperation than competition. As shown in the movie I Am and other sources, money can buy
happiness, but only to some extent. Life without money would not be a very happy life, because
those without money cannot afford basic needs. Life with a vast amount of money is not any
happier than one with enough to provide necessities. Money can only buy happiness in taking
care of basic needs. An example of why nations need to place higher value on cooperation is in
the movie I Am, where it is stated that cooperation and democracy are the basis of nature and that
humans are hard wired to cooperate. However, our society is more focused on competition
between others. We value competition in sports. We pay athletes millions of dollars in sports
such as football and baseball. Because cooperation comes naturally to people, it would increase
their happiness if they worked together in daily life instead of competing. If nations would meet
the basic needs of all people and have them cooperate more, the earth would be a happier place.
It is critical that we examine how to achieve happiness, because our society today is
seeking happiness in all the wrong places, which is harming society rather than making a better
world. For example, in the movie I Am, it says that in our world today wealth and happiness are
thought of as synonyms. This statement represents that many people believe money can buy all
the happiness in the world. For instance, Robin Williams worked hard to become very
successful, because through society, he was raised to believe that success was the way to
happiness. However, even though he was very wealthy, famous and well respected, he became
so unhappy that he committed suicide. Sadly, this is not an uncommon situation. Many famous
celebrities do not find happiness where society says it will be. Happiness for our society can be

achieved when all individuals are valued and empowered with all the basic human rights and
thus free to pursue meaningful lives that make a difference in the world.
Works Cited
Rand, Ayn. Anthem. New York: Dutton, 1995. Print.
Williams, Tennessee. "The Catastrophe of Success." New York Times 30 Nov. 1947: n. pag.
Print.
Happy. Dir. Roko Belic. Perf. Marci Shimoff, Gregory Berns, Richard Davidson, Ed Diener,
Sonja Lyubomirsky, and Michael Pritchard. 2011. Film.
I Am. Dir. Tom Shadyac. Perf. Marc Ian Barasch, Coleman Barks, Noam Chomsky, Tom
Shadyac, Desmond Tutu, and Howard Zinn. Shady Acres Film, 2011. Film.