Happiness Definition

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Island Traveler

We shouldn’t have to ask people we love to choose between Family and Self when they tell us what makes them happy. It can be both. If that’s an impossibility, then no one will be completely happy. Everyone loses. No amount of pretending and substitution will fill the void when someone irreplaceable leaves.

Happiness and contentment, so near yet so far. Simple yet complicated. Free yet never enough nor easily accessed. If I can define Happiness, it will look and feel like this picture captured by my iPhone camera. Happiness however, can’t truly be defined in words until we experience it ourselves. Happiness constantly changes, comes and goes like the Seasons. No one owns it nor can contain it, not even the richest person in this Planet. Big Sur, CA 2021.

Observing the people around me, I see different faces doing both similar and different things in search for the same, Happiness.

We travel. We take road trips. We love spending time at the beach Summer or not. Why? We may come up with many answers but can be summed up into one word, Happiness. Natural Bridge, Santa Cruz, May 2021.

It’s easy to be numb. It’s easy to lose sight of self and be swept in with the seemingly never ending demands of work and people. It’s easy to feel nothing. Even easier to get hurt, feel sad, angry or frustrated. So we do what we do to see and feel Happiness. It doesn’t matter if it’s swift and fleeting. It doesn’t matter if we are to lose it as soon as we find it. What matters is we get to have it again and again. Like air to survive, the heart needs it to know it’s still alive. Like an addicting drug, we crave its euphoric effects and go into bad withdrawals when we run out of it.

I go to places both familiar and new. I hike on top and edges some consider dangerous. People call them adventure. I always thought it was just a way to cope and survive. End of Laguna Beach, May 2021.

A life without Happiness is not living at all. This is true for every Human being. Acknowledging this truth sets apart the Contented and the Miserable, the Pessimist and the Dreamers. No one is better than the other. Happiness is not a competition. It’s not about who gets the most. It’s personal. It’s unique. It’s genuine. It’s natural.

All of whats left of the Mermaid was her tail because everything else were taken away piece by piece. She was too trusting, generous and selfless she forgot she needed to love and protect herself too. Our stories are not that different from hers. Siren’s Cove, 2021.

The need and search for Happiness will cease to exist only when we are dead. I don’t think it’s overrated nor an exaggeration. It’s a basic right and freedom for all. Everyone deserves to enjoy it, rich, poor, middle income, ordinary, famous, the forgotten, friends and enemies.

Birds fly because they can. So why can’t we? Nothing to do with having wings.

Happiness yesterday was a family road trip. Today, a walk at a Rose Garden Park. Both beautiful but the Happiness didn’t feel the same. I guess, the heart has preference or maybe the moment just didn’t feel right because I didn’t get much sleep. Whatever the reason, Happiness took more effort and I’m still craving for it. Oh well, Happiness reset begins again tomorrow. Perhaps it will feel just right.

We are beautiful because we are happy and free. The moment they are taken away, we fade, wither and eventually die from within. Many are alive but don’t feel that they are. Once they were beautiful too. Can be again if our love is bigger than our pride and anger.

“The greatest of them all is Love.”

Mom, know you are missed, loved, thought of and appreciated everyday. Happiness will never be complete without you. If you see me smiling in those old social media pictures, it’s for the world. Was never real. Know I am still your Son, that never changed, only silenced with lies. Just thinking of you now made me happier and that is a luxury not a normalcy like it used to be. My heart smiles both with joy and sadness. Still haven’t accepted the fact that this is the definition of our Happiness forced by people and circumstances. May my deep Love, Longing and Prayers find you. May it be more powerful than the scars and the Demons. We may not get our Happy Ending on Earth, but perhaps in Heaven we will find our forever Happily Ever After.

2015, a dream came true in California. I was so happy but there was still a void because of someone irreplaceable. People assume I am okay because I smile a lot and make people laugh or make their day better. A person can still give happiness to others and still not having it themselves because it’s their nature to keep giving while supply last. Especially close to the Ocean, I often catch myself dreaming, hoping that everything the heart wished for will find her. Point Lobos, Monterey 5 years ago.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom. May Happiness finds you. May Happiness finds us. I Love You Always.

About Island Traveler

Just a Man too curious where his dreams will take him.
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12 Responses to Happiness Definition

  1. maayaronweg says:
    June 5, 2021 at 10:02 am

    The whole post is so Truly… I don’t have anything to say more

    Like

    • Island Traveler says:
      June 5, 2021 at 10:19 am

      Thanks. It’s seems harder and harder to define happiness if we based it to society’s and people standards when it shouldn’t be. We all have our definitions of happiness and it’s important that we give it a chance both for ourselves and for others to find theirs.

      Like

  2. ourcrossings says:
    May 9, 2021 at 2:00 pm

    Fantastic post and wonderful photos. Happiness does have a pretty important role in our lives, and it can have a huge impact on the way we live our lives, too. But when you look at it from a philosophical point of view; happiness is neither a totally fleeting, momentary experience nor a stable, long-term trait. Even during the pandemic crisis we can find ways to create happiness and the best news is – they are very simple like practicing gratitude, savouring the moment or learning how to think positively. Thanks for sharing so many beautiful photos, I thoroughly enjoyed every single one of them. Aiva 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  3. WanderingCanadians says:
    May 8, 2021 at 5:41 am

    This is such a beautiful post. At the end of the day, everyone wants to be happy. And it’s like you said, happiness is different for each person. It’s our own individual journey to figure out what makes us happy, and that journey may evolve and change over time. I do like that idea that tomorrow is a new day and a chance for a happiness reset.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Ab says:
    May 7, 2021 at 5:29 pm

    A lovely post and so true. Everyone is keys in search of and deserves their own happiness. Life is so short and we need to prioritize things that make us happy rather than those that weigh us down.

    Lovely photos as always and it is nice that find and enjoy such beautiful things that make you happy.

    And that is lovely tribute to your mom. Happy Mother’s Day weekend to her and to all the moms!

    Like

  5. restlessjo says:
    May 7, 2021 at 3:47 pm

    What a wonderful tribute to your Mom. I’m sure she’s happy with a son like you. 🙂 🙂 I absolutely love that first photo. Happiness for me!

    Like

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