There's no time to cry, happy happy

Today's Forecast: Happy with a Chance of Smiling

           Today as yesterday, my thoughts are on happiness, what we think it is, how we attain it, how we interpret it. Before delving into this post, I would like to distinguish two modes of happiness: a mood and an overall sense of one's life satisfaction. In our discussions more generally I feel that we conflate and confuse these two modes, and perhaps in our own minds, it can be hard to unwind which sense dominates in a given situation. I talked about life satisfaction yesterday, and, in this post, I will consider the temporary form of happiness. 

            Moods emerge from the fluctuations of daily life. We might find ourselves in a temporary state of happiness when we move through the day without real setbacks. The opposites of this feeling may be frustration, anger, sadness, fear or a combination of what are generally considered negative feelings. We feel this kind of happiness if we wake up feeling generally rested, make it to commitments smoothly and on time, check off our to do list and encounter people who are courteous and helpful. We might also feel a form of happiness, a euphoria, if we have good news: a raise, a promotion, a happy event, some activity that brings great joy.

            I have mixed thoughts on the topic of happiness, in part because US culture places so much emphasis on being positive and upbeat all of the time. If you do a Google search for happiness you will find all sorts of aphorisms about altering the way you look at life, choosing happiness, and other recipes for adding this emotion to your life. The pressure to be happy is immense, and I worry that this focus creates more stress and anxiety when some of us fail at the endeavor. I also wonder if our emphasis on happiness diverts our attention away from other areas of our life that need attention, that the quest for daily happiness leads us away from longer-term projects because of the impression that we should live in the here and now. Having said that, I want to be happier on a daily basis, and I want to take time to appreciate the positive elements of my ordinary life.

            What does happiness have to do with atheism? Strictly speaking, there is no real connection. Atheism really is just a lack of belief in gods and there is nothing else attached to this position. What one starts to believe, do, and feel is up to the individual non-believer. But the broader point to make is that atheists do experience this mood of happiness. As we go about our days, we notice the little joys, beautiful objects, successes, checkmarks on our to do list. We exult a little when we find a bargain at the store, encounter a green light or solve a minor problem. We feel grateful when someone does us a favor, gives us a little gift or pays us a compliment. And these moments of happiness are magnified when we compare them to the days when everything goes wrong. Because there are also days when the light is red and we drop an object in the rain and our coworker is angrier than usual and the computer crashes taking with it our nearly completed and unsaved file. It's all called life.

            Like I said in my previous post on life happiness, I do not see a distinction between atheists and theists in terms of their happiness. Sure, some people are happier than others, but this strikes me as a function of that person's personality. I know some Christians who are generally joyful people who enjoy every moment of their life and seem at peace. Others seem bitter. Overall, they act angry and seem discontented with everything they are presented with. There are also atheists who act joyful and grateful and there are those who are disgruntled.

            Part of being an atheist is not attributing the good and the bad to a supernatural entity. It means not looking for meaning behind finding (or not) a good parking spot in the pouring rain. It means not wondering if your god "in his grace" is rewarding you with a smooth day or the devil is tempting you with the easy life. If you are feeling the mood of happiness (or anger or frustration or sadness or whatever), it is because you are living right now and your brain is functioning.

Because little things contribute to putting us in the mood of happiness, here are some little pleasures for today:

-not having to water the plants outside because it rained the night before

-rewatching a favorite television program or movie and savoring knowing what is to come

-the undulating flight of goldfinches

-a crazed cat funning after her favorite toy