Continuing my thoughts from yesterday, I’m going to explore the two other TED talks I mentioned, the ones about happiness. If joy is different than happiness, understanding happiness in my life is key. Listening to a psychologist and a monk give me two differing understandings of happiness.
Emily Esfahani Smith gave a talk in 2017 titled, There’s More to Life Than Being Happy. Her premise is that happiness is fleeting. Instead of happiness, you should seek a meaningful life. Through her study, she came to recognize four pillars to building a meaningful life: belonging, purpose, transcendence, and the story you tell yourself about yourself.
Are there pillars to help one find joy, similar to the way Smith gives for happiness? Gratitude perhaps? In a way that is what yesterday’s post talked about. Color, soft shapes, and multitudes.
In 2004 Matthieu Ricard’s talk was titled The Habits of Happiness. I liked the beginning of his talk. I resonated with the spectrum of happiness. He used the example that one piece of chocolate cake is good, two not so much. He goes on talk about training your mind against the duality of emotion.
Having a meditative practice is nothing I did regularly. 22 days ago, I was challenged to a month of daily meditation. It is a centering practice. I will in no way turn into someone who can meditate for hours on end, but I can take an emotion and turn it into a passing moment. If I’m looking for a state of joy, I think the ability to transform emotions like this may be important.
I may not have an idea of how to find joy after listening to these talks, but I do have an idea of how to live a better life. Nonetheless, these speakers offer hope or a different way to do life. I like that.