Happiness- Humanities Question 6

6. Which theory of happiness in your opinion is most helpful to the world and which is the least? Explain your answers.

The happiness theory I find most helpful, isn't necessarily the one I relate the most to. I find in my own life that my different types of happiness change on a day to day basis. I may tend to agree with the Epicurus one day and Aristotle the next. I'm defiantly not a stoic today. I had a bad day which happens once in a while. So to fix it i decided to feel sorry for myself and buy my favorite candy an Almond Joy.

The most helpful theory of happiness in life should be incorporated a little into each day. I believe that Buddhism has a clear path to happiness that everyone can bring into their lives no matter what or who they believe. The buddhist main points are that they don't like to conform and are non-materialistic. If no one in the world is trying to conform we are coming up with fresh new ideas everyday. A majority of the time we can benefit from these ideas and try to create the ideal society. Another believe of Buddhism is that you try to help yourself more than the world. There is an idea I have always liked: the biggest change you can make in the world happens with yourself first. 

I have always tried to incorporate this thought into my life. I found I am most happy when I try to loose myself in others or creating something for the better good of life. I noticed that when I am less focused on the materialistic things of the world, I achieve this idea better. Which is the next part to the definition of Buddhism; don't be materialistic. The items or thoughts in life that are non-materialistic will last the longest. Take a birthday present as an example. You could go to Wal-Mart and buy a DVD from the five dollar bin or you could spend five minutes to an hour making something nice for that person, or writing them a note. Fast forward thirty years to this persons funeral. You are going through their closet to sort through things. You can't find that DVD you bought nor do you remember buying it. But that homemade card that went along with it, is in a box full of their most prized valuables. They kept it for life, because it meant something to them that nothing could replace. This in the end turned out to be a non-materialistic act or idea.

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. 
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. 
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” 
― Mother Teresa

Another concept of Buddhism I like a lot is the eight fold path to enlightenment. You must have a right UNDERSTANDING, right THOUGHT, right SPEECH, right ACTION, right LIVELIHOOD, right EFFORT, right MINDFULNESS, and right CONCENTRATION. Doesn't this sound like it would create the ideal world if everyone tried to incorporate one of these right enlightenment's into their life? I'm going to focus on the one of CONCENTRATION. You can achieve what you put your mind to. If you think about it, you are the only one limiting yourself. Who told you that you couldn't be whatever you wanted to be, or pass that humanities test? Yourself. You are your worst weapon and biggest fear. But when you are conscious and focusing on these acts nothing can stop you. Concentration is everything, its finding out what works best for you. Tying it back to the non- materialistic idea, if you concentrate on the things you can take with you in the next life you won't need to focus on the materialistic things of the world. It doesn't mean that it's not nice to have them sometimes. For the most part though, the eight enlightenment's are going to fill the void in your life that you were previously trying to fill with the materialistic items of the world. A concentrated thought doesn't leave this world when you do. It stays so future generations can improve on it.

The theory of hedonism to me is slightly conflicting and helpless for the world . Carpe diem " Seize the Day" is a term that many may live by. Yes, seizing the day can be good sometimes, but what is going to come of a short lived moment that left no lasting value? You may seize the day, but are you seizing you personal future or the future of others? Many link seizing the day as not having to think of the rigors and downfalls of tomorrow. Lets live in the day, so maybe tomorrow will go away. Tomorrow is always going to come no matter what you do. It's already tomorrow somewhere half way across the world.

 A quote from the book on page 386 says " Hedonism ( from the Greek for "delight") is the name given to the philosophy that happiness is equivalent to physical pleasure and to the possession of things that provide us with pleasure" I do not like this definition. Unavoidably, happiness will often thrive off pleasure in small amounts. One person may find pleasure in something that causes others pain. Often time at a dinner table the blonde becomes the personal joke. Others find it meaningless and pleasureful  but the blonde does not. Just like above stated there are things about hedonism that I like and don't like. Always pleasure seeking for yourself, would be one of my dislikes. Hedonist often times try to do the most with their potential. I often times wonder that the thing that bothers me most is hedonist reach their potential for a reward based on pleasure. Not because they want to gain something meaningful. Hedonist are always wanting. Wanting is a never ending cycle of wishing as we learned in Into the Woods. Overindulgence in one item like with the M &M's won't bring you pleasure the next day.

Each one of these types of happiness is good in small amounts. The best to me is Buddhism because it encompasses a lot of learning to better ones self and world. This week I am even going to try to work on my right of CONCENTRATION.

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

Into the woods ii- Question 2

“Wishes may bring problems such that you regret them. Better that, though, than to never get them.” This statement is very true. My Aunt Cathy has been struggling with cancer for seven years now. And during these last two years it has gotten worse. This past week she laid in her hospital bed in her room surrounded by family as she waited to die. She was a fighter and the nurses kept saying, " it will be tonight." Every night we stayed by her side awake till 4 am. It might not have seemed like a smart thing to do, but that's our family. A little background on my family: we all basically live within a mile of each other. My aunt and I live only up the hill ( Our family actually bought her old house. ) We are very close and always in each others business whether we should be or not. My aunt was almost like another mom sometimes, that's the reason i came to Saint George; it was for her. It wasn't until a full week of cousin bonding and mourning passed that she decide we were ready for her to let go. It came unexpectedly, i was in the kitchen playing games with the family. We all thought she wasn't going to die that night because she always held on for so long. Plus, all week we have been hearing that tonight will be the night. We even were WISHING previously that it would be the night. I tell you this story because for so long we hoped, prayed and WISHED that she would make it through the cancer and treatments. She did! But then every time the cancer came back worse then it was before. That was not how the family wanted our WISHES to come true. It eventually overtook her whole body causing her immense pain and for her to end up in a coma. Leading up to Sunday night, we WISHED again. This time for a completely different WISH telling her " it was okay for her to go, and that we loved her" . Now that she is gone, there is so many unanswered questions and we only WISH we had more time. Wasn't it all last week that we wasted WISHING for her to pass through her tortured state? WISHES can be confusing. They often don't get us what we want.During this wishing well of wishes we realized we couldn't have both. Only ONE WISH could come true in that moment and that should be the WISH that was best for her. Don't get me wrong, i still WISH she could be here and she is just in a different way. Wishes also come in ways best suited for you, not necessarily in the way YOU WISHED them. In my case, my wish got me what needed to happen. I WISHED for more time during the beginning, Less time in the end, and back to WISHING for more time after it was over. I often wonder if wishes leave you were you started? Along what i call my wishing journey i learned life lessons, i grew up a bit. Maybe, you could say WISHES are three dimensional. The WISHES the characters made in the play Into The Woods brought them temporary happiness. I say temporary happiness because they ended back up in the woods, WISHING for more. Once you get a WISH fulfilled you're never truly satisfied. It's better then not getting them. Without the wishing journey of my aunt i would have never grown. Through out the play you could see the characters growing and failing based on their wishes. The baker started out on his wish search greedy, then toward the end got a softer heart as he tried a new wish and to get what he wanted. Without the wish of the magic bean stalk jack would have never been connected to all those people or had the journey he received. The bakers wife wished for the child that she so longed for. I don't think she realized the responsibility that came with that wish. When she received the child she gave it to others to take care of then wished for a young self again. I think her rondevu with the prince was symbolic to wanting freedom back and doing all those things she WISHED and didn't get to do before she was a mom. In life we may wish for things to soon, that would have came free to us if we would have just waited for a later time in life. We saw many examples of this in Into the Woods. Our wishing doesn't need to take place in the " woods" , but can be waited for patiently outside of them. I believe all our wishes will come true as we do the things along the path to make them come true.

Into the Woods Blog Post 1-?2

Into the Woods, to me is an illusion of the different pathways and journeys we choose to take in life. As we go through out life we find strength in the daily proverbs. I would like to focus on the proverb   " Sometimes the things you most wish for are not to be touched" . I often only see one perspective in my life. I don't have the ability to fast forward to the future to see if I've made the correct choice, or wanted the right things. I only know the consequence of my wants/wishes when I get there. Within the play into the woods all the characters are searching for what they think they need, their wishes to come true. I've noticed that the stranger often gives them what they wish for, or points them in the direction of their desires. Their wishes are really just what they THINK they want. For example, Cinderella plays indecisive and hides from what her heart really wants. The boy does everything just so he can get his milk white cow, only to find what he wants isn't what he needs. ( Because the cow died). I would like to draw a parallel between the two. Often times I find myself chasing after my dreams, what I wished for. Only to arrive and find that my heart found a new dream and wish along the journey. Essentially it's discovered new wants. Wants to me are wishes. This is why the things we most wish for cannot be touched. Our wishes are constantly changing and adapting to our new needs of life. Cinderella reconsidered only after she took away her own personal stereo-type of being the maid. She let her heart fall openly for the prince and decided she didn't need to wait for her wish to come true she had to create it as new wish, want, or desire. The boy learned to live without his cow. In the end he would rather have the temporary  goose that lays golden eggs. Then the wanting back of his cow. Is it bad to want something new after having something die away? Can ones wish/ want really replace that deep connection in the mind, that quickly? Yes, because wants are temporary. We don't know or understand the plan of life god ( or the higher being one wants to believe in ) has laid in our path. This is why as we grow and have the opportunity to form deeper thoughts we change are minds. When are minds change or grow, so do our wishes. Our mind may temporally wish for something, but I believe only the heart knows what it truly wants. Wishes are your greatest and deepest wants. You're mind and heart are in a constant war for the continuous wants and wishes of life. To go along with this idea of not truly being able to touch the wishes of life is another proverb from Into the Woods. " To get what you want better see that you keep what you have". Have you ever traded something important for a greater temporary importance? ( Like the witch wanting younger looks, and loosing her daughter along the way.) I know at times I thought I was trading up to a better life by getting my wants and getting rid of the old haves of life. Until I missed what I used to have and hated what I thought wanted. I think its important to remember somethings in life you just can't changed no matter how bad you WANT to, because it all happens for a reason. You can't erase what you have for what you want, then you loose yourself. I have thought I wanted something so bad that I would have done anything to change what I had for what I wanted. We all have. Sometimes I think wants can be printed inside of you and make you forget what you have so you keeping wishing/wanting greater. You can't always get what you want. If you fast forwarded you would see that life and what you had wasn't bad at all. It only became bad when you started wanting and forgetting what you had. Basically, too many wants make you greedy. You can't touch wishes, and erase you're wants. What keeps you persistent in life is going through the journey and continuous cycle of having , then wishing, wanting, and forgetting. Towards the end of wanting is when I think I discover it is really just the chase i'm seeking, not the want at all. After all, the chase is what puts your wanting heart to rest. Doesn't mean you don't have to stop wishing for what you want. Just don't forget what you have when you don't get what you want.

Blog Post 1- Hum 1010 : I choose to "be drunk"

College students often seem passionless as they walk around campus with their head down. This is all due to  the studying and busy rigors of being a college student. Baudelaire in his poem Be Drunk said,  "So as not to feel the horrible burden of time that breaks your back and bends you to the earth, you have to be continually drunk." If college students weren't truly passionate they wouldn't be going to college. The purpose of college is to choose to be drunk among your passions and make it a career. My name is Sarah Nicole McComb, I'm 19: I like quotes, beach cruiser bikes, traveling, swimming, and The Wombats. For now, I am choosing to be drunk on learning.Yes, I'm a passionate college student. I'm studying to be a marriage and family therapist. My college studies take up much of my time, along with my work schedule and how to use my time is an issue I struggle with. I often wonder where do I choose to spend my time and what is going to really matter in the future? What I think is going to help me in the future is having other interests along with my passion of college. I like to spend my away time from school at concerts, cooking, with my family, and playing musical instruments. Right now in my life I am choosing to be drunk for learning, but that doesn't mean that I can't entertain some of my other passions. I can choose to drive two or three hours to see a concert or spend that much time with family. The things I observe in life will help me to be more "drunk" towards my passions. In my own words in the spirit of Baudelaire, I would choose to be drunk not on wine, poetry, or virtue but on music, school, and family. In this time of my life these our my passions as I'm figuring out who I am and growing. Remember, passion is not lost during the college years, its just beginning.

Inspiration

This is my favorite song.

Experiment Bucket List: #2

Barbara bucket list: # Go through a drive through as a human car.
Drive through: Swig!
Human Car included: Lexi , Barabra, Two of her friends, Me ( Sarah )
Swig reaction: " Can you please use the walk up window?"
Barbara " But look were a car, we even have a window. ( me on the ground)
Then we went and parked the car.
Barbara walks up with her boyfriend, sorry i had to park my car. Ladies face so blank.
Well we tried and that's all that mattered. It was fun being a human car and having to turn together, and roll down the window, and flash a light. I think we would have passed inspection. Hah (: