Is happiness an illusion?

Centuries ago, philosophers questioned what exactly happiness was. Even an ancient Greek word, eudaimonia, is derived from it. According to some, it is health and wealth; to others, it is poverty. Everyone perceives the world from different frames and derives different meanings from it. By etymology, happy means chance and fortune in English culture, and German culture named it Glück, which means luck, and Latin cultures named it felix, which is luck and fate. They all agreed that happiness is a good, elevated emotion.

Religions played an essential role for people in providing happiness, particularly after sacrifice and suffering. In the Christian culture, happiness is the feeling of joy, which will come after a painful lifetime as a reward. This gave faith to good Christian people to endure pain and suffering, since they are collecting credits for infinite happiness and joy in the afterlife. In the famous portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa slightly smiles, as you can see below. Is she embarrassed to show others that she is happy? Or was it an impolite behavior to pose with a huge smile in those times?

According to the Islamic philosopher al-Ghazali, self-knowledge consists of realizing that the heart and the spirit are flawless, but over time, dust accumulates inside because of human instincts and passions, which casts a shadow on perfection. His view is actually aligned with scientific knowledge that an infant was actually flawless and perfect when he/she came into the world. Then the upbringing starts, and caregivers constantly talk about the rules in the world. The child starts to label what is good and what is bad. Then judgments are made, and he/she starts to feel inferior, angry, shameful, and guilty. The soul starts to get dirty, and the mind deviates from happiness.

Psychology as a discipline focuses on behavior; the early movements were oriented toward fixing the abnormalities. In the 19th century, happiness was seen as a luxury. No one thought that it was a necessity. Then the industrial revolution came, and lifestyles changed sharply. People did start to have more spare time with the development of machines that made our lives easier, like dishwashers and refrigerators. People started to get used to material comfort, and the concept of satisfaction and happiness became more and more popular. 

Harvey Ross Ball, an American graphic artist, got an assignment from an insurance company in Worcester, Massachusetts. He came up with the design for the smiley face. The company produced buttons, posters, and signs all around to encourage the employees to smile more. He did the design; neither the company nor the artist copyrighted the design. In 1971, the Spain brothers, who own the Hallmark cards, copyrighted the design. Click here to read more about the history of smiley face design. The brothers’ added “Have a happy day” text, and it was their original design now. Then it became very popular. The ideology of “positivity” became a niche.

Today, these keywords became popular on social media: #mentalhealth, #health, #self-help, #psychology, and self-help books are the bestsellers in bookstores. There are even master programs on Mental Health marketing. Canva, a popular design website, now offers tons of free and customizable mental health templates. Is it because we are globally becoming more depressed, and we constantly need to remind ourselves not to get stuck in that mindset? Or is it because healthcare services are getting more and more expensive, and we need to find alternative methods to seek happiness?

Positive psychology is a revolutionized movement over how we should perceive mental wellbeing. Mental health is not something to be fixed to lead a healthy life. At least the story is incomplete from that side. A healthy life should be led with quality, and the components of meaning and purpose should also be in it. Martin Seligman, a founder in the field, studied happiness using scientific methods. His studies led him to the conclusion that happiness needs to be cultivated in three dimensions: the Pleasant Life, the Good Life and the Meaningful Life. Here are the details of Seligman’s work. In short, the past, present, and future are connected; our traumas, our present attention, and hope all play an essential role in our happiness. We should focus on what gives us meaning in this life, and seek for methods to flourish our passions.

Life satisfaction increased for sure compared to the previous decades; however, it all came with some side effects. Modern life is extremely demanding. Busyness, production, and doing more are like badges of honor. The more education, the more career, fame, and status are promoted, with constant updates of the status to social media, which means 7/24 accessibility thanks to the messenger and email apps. There are also traditional societal pressures like getting married, having kids, and pursuing a high-income career. All of this is very stressful when putted together. The satellite image of the Earth during the night maps out how we are pursuing a sleepless culture in the 21st century. There is always something to do, virtual or actual. Social media is relentless, we swipe over the reels if we cannot sleep. Netflix wants to steal our sleep. In the last decade, insomnia, not being able to sleep, entered as a standalone disorder in the International Classification of Sleep Disorders.

During the weekend, it is popular in the western culture to go for drinks with friends. Friday at 6 pm is happy hour. So, is happiness is hidden behind an extra-free beer? Then the weekend comes, and it is shopping time. We need new sweaters so that we can post new pictures on Instagram. Fast fashion has never been faster before. SHEIN offers to deliver clothes just three days after production. It makes us happy to put new pictures on Instagram. We look cool in that 25-dollar dress. Who cares about the backstage of the glamorous fashion industry? The planet is getting polluted, but this is not our problem. It looks good until we wash the cloth a few times. Then we need to buy new ones to maintain happiness. We need different poses on Instagram as well, and it would be a shame to share posts with the same clothes. 

In short, the industrial life imposes on us a concept of happiness. Are we truly happy? This is a good question. We will never be happy if we continue to think in materialistic terms. In fact, we are just getting increasingly pushed into burnout and unhappiness. But there is still hope; we need to keep the hope up, as Seligman’s research advises. There is no accurate answer for what exactly happiness is, yet up-to-date research advises these.

• Happiness is a muscle; the more we exercise, the more we will feel happiness

• Gratitude journaling is a proven method to enhance happiness

• Give your emphasis to the positive and disregard the negative

• Having a purpose would add meaning to life and enhance happiness

• Understanding your core values and acting in alignment with them would increase happiness

• Enhancement of personal boundaries would bring happiness

• Recovering from codependency would make you feel independent and bring happiness

• Drinking less alcohol would certainly reduce feelings of depression and contribute to happiness

This list can be increased, more and more. The golden rule is to find what makes you happy and do more of it.