Our Modern Dilemma and Why a Cat Naps
What responsibility, one's own happiness! We're so used to it being given to us. So often happiness comes from an external source. People go to a theater to be entertained, or attend a church service to hear the reassuring words of a minister. In a sick way, this always relying on others for momentary happiness makes us subhuman, robotic, or animalistic. (Not that those words aren't accurate assessments of human existence in many ways, but I digress...)
Taking one's happiness as one's sole responsibility is yet another way-a big, big way-to break free from the chains that bind, to be truly free. It is a step towards realizing the dream of true individuality replete with all the glory the idea deserves.
The Art of Happiness is complicated by the possibility that wanting and enjoyment of the type we are used to might not be natural. Pardon me if the following analogy is offensive to some, especially dog people, but.... If you feed a cat, pet a cat, let the cat run around the yard stalking song birds, and allow the cat to "get it on" with other cats, what then will the it do? There is no doubt-the cat will sleep. After all of its needs are met and its instinctual impulses are satisfied, the cat will be done and the cat will sleep. The concept of choosing to do anything else is probably alien to an animal largely programmed to do exactly what it does.
Gifted with an unusually large cerebrum, the human animal is constantly inundated with information-information that gets in the way of our instinctual, cat-like pursuit of that which we crave. Sometimes it can even stand in the way of us getting what we need. Of course, that which gets in the way (our big ol' cerebrum) is just another tool designed to help us get what we want more quickly and effectively. Over time, we've become so good at using our best tool that we've created a lot of extra time for ourselves (the conveniences of the modern life). In a sense, we more often exist in a void where no need or instinctual urge pulls us in any one direction. If we're not careful, we fill this void with fluff or obsession. For the cat, the emergence of the void means its time to take a nap, while for us we might choose to view it as the time we "really start living". (see a few blogs ago) It's the time we can choose to do what we really, really want to do. We're sure that we can achieve greater satisfaction, pleasure, happiness, enlightenment, what have you. I hope we're not wrong about that.
So here I am at the start of a day that is completely mine. I have no plans or obligations. I have no prearranged plan to meet anybody. My girlfriend will be in Sun Valley the entire day. And I'm completely clueless. I just don't know what I really, really want to do today. This blog is an attempt to understand that lack of wanting.
Now, when you feel the same, you won't need to get too down on yourself. A completely rational explanation for your difficulty in making a decision exists. You are very welcome.
Taking one's happiness as one's sole responsibility is yet another way-a big, big way-to break free from the chains that bind, to be truly free. It is a step towards realizing the dream of true individuality replete with all the glory the idea deserves.
The Art of Happiness is complicated by the possibility that wanting and enjoyment of the type we are used to might not be natural. Pardon me if the following analogy is offensive to some, especially dog people, but.... If you feed a cat, pet a cat, let the cat run around the yard stalking song birds, and allow the cat to "get it on" with other cats, what then will the it do? There is no doubt-the cat will sleep. After all of its needs are met and its instinctual impulses are satisfied, the cat will be done and the cat will sleep. The concept of choosing to do anything else is probably alien to an animal largely programmed to do exactly what it does.
Gifted with an unusually large cerebrum, the human animal is constantly inundated with information-information that gets in the way of our instinctual, cat-like pursuit of that which we crave. Sometimes it can even stand in the way of us getting what we need. Of course, that which gets in the way (our big ol' cerebrum) is just another tool designed to help us get what we want more quickly and effectively. Over time, we've become so good at using our best tool that we've created a lot of extra time for ourselves (the conveniences of the modern life). In a sense, we more often exist in a void where no need or instinctual urge pulls us in any one direction. If we're not careful, we fill this void with fluff or obsession. For the cat, the emergence of the void means its time to take a nap, while for us we might choose to view it as the time we "really start living". (see a few blogs ago) It's the time we can choose to do what we really, really want to do. We're sure that we can achieve greater satisfaction, pleasure, happiness, enlightenment, what have you. I hope we're not wrong about that.
So here I am at the start of a day that is completely mine. I have no plans or obligations. I have no prearranged plan to meet anybody. My girlfriend will be in Sun Valley the entire day. And I'm completely clueless. I just don't know what I really, really want to do today. This blog is an attempt to understand that lack of wanting.
Now, when you feel the same, you won't need to get too down on yourself. A completely rational explanation for your difficulty in making a decision exists. You are very welcome.
posted by Josh at
9:58 PM
2 Comments:
I found this quite intriguing! It flies in the face of the concept that I must always be "doing" something. The idea that "doing something" will lead to happiness, or the converse, that not "doing" anything is a waste.
Yes, we are led to believe that if we do, and we do a lot of different things, and we do them enough, then we will be content and happy. Then, of course, we fill strangely guilty or depressed if we don't feel ultra compelled to do all kinds of things--or if we don't feel like doing anything at all. The point is, we will always feel compelled to do certain things, and we will always feel satisfaction in doing those things that are programmed in our genes; however, it might just be very normal to not feel compelled to do anything, and our endless quest for new and exciting things to do, while mostly justified and fruitful, can sometimes be a hindrance to happiness.
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