The One Constant in Our Lives is Change

Here's a great TED Talk from Dan Gilbert about the nature of personal change and the ways in which we improperly anticipate it. As the speaker illustrates, people change far more over time than they expect themselves to. I wonder what the verge of 30 will feel like?

Learning to Shun the Instagram Life

I found another interesting piece from the New York Times, this one exploring envy in its relation to happiness. The author presents an interesting case for how people who live Instagram lives attempt to make their lives appear better than those of their peers. This breeds competition, particularly in regards to material possessions, and it only fosters unhappiness (rather than quelling it). The article is a good, quick read, and it ties nicely into the idea of deriving happiness from within (harkening back to the intrinsic vs. extrinsic happiness dichotomy).

Read the article here.

The Cat and the Intern

Every morning I leave for my internship, and every evening I come home. Almost without fail, each time that I leave and return to my building, I notice a cat sitting on the windowsill of an apartment on the first floor. I always wonder how the cat doesn't grow tired of sitting in the same space, day-in and day-out. Every time I notice it, I think about how stagnant its life must be. Then I think it probably thinks the same of me.

Thank goodness I'll be back at school in a week!

A Disappointing Eighty Percent

After doing some research, I discovered that the average person has anywhere from twelve- to fifty-thousand thoughts a day. While this number is staggering on its own, what struck me as much more jarring is that an estimated eighty percent of these thoughts tend to be negative in nature. That is to say, on average, that four out of every five thoughts we have are associated with fear, anxiety, stress, guilt, or sadness in general. 

I'm not sure of the degree to which this percentage varies by culture, location, gender, or much else. Little is understood about the many mysteries of the brain, and perhaps even less is known about our consciousnesses. But what I am able to confidently deduce is that negative thoughts, regardless of how confident or objectively happy a person may be, are in a sense "hardwired" into the fabric of our brains. What this implies, in my opinion, is that happiness does not exist in a vacuum. In other words, no one lives entirely free of those aforementioned emotions. So it seems as though happiness arises not from somehow ridding oneself of negative thoughts, but rather learning to live with them and becoming astute about which thoughts are important and which are, for lack of a better word, unimportant. 

One personal problem that I've identified since the creation of this blog is my tendency to focus on realities other than the present. As far as my eighty percent figure goes, I would estimate that my negative thoughts center around fears and stresses about the future, and lingerings about the past. This is admittedly unhealthy, and I also believe that it precludes me from truly living in the present. This speaks to the theme of my blog because, as I've said more than once, the verge of twenty is a fleeting time, and it is surely unwise to spend eighty percent of it dwelling on the bad stuff.

Ultimately, it's somewhat reassuring that negative thinking is a function of being a person. Knowing that this is a feature of our humanity helps to remove the onus of somehow just "being happy," as it illustrates that this condition is tenuous and, in a way, contradictory to our nature. But having identified this problem, it seems that the best move towards genuine happiness is accepting the negative thoughts and allowing them to pass as quickly as they come, foregoing them instead for the minority that make us value and appreciate life.

"Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means you've decided to look beyond the imperfections."

- Unknown 

Pacifism, Privilege, Other Thoughts

This year has been a harrowing one for global politics. Between the power struggles in the Ukraine, the conflict in Israel, the health crisis in Africa, the internal situations in Syria and Iraq, and countless other recent developments, this year-to-date has proven extremely unpredictable. As a pragmatic pacifist (a term I thought I had coined until a quick Google search left me disillusioned), as well as someone on a quest to find his own personal peace, these various international developments have inspired me to think about the question of global peace.

I should disclaim my post with the fact that this a topic which has no definitive answer, because of the subjectivity of international conflict. But admittedly, I do feel strongly about addressing the situations on the international stage as a counter to my American privilege. It is, of course, because of the relatively prosperous nature of American society that I am afforded the opportunity to try to "discover the meaning of life" in the first place. As far as Maslow's hierarchy goes, this desire to self-actualize comes last in the chain of human necessity.

As a pragmatic pacifist, I recognize that international relations necessitates conflict, however I find it categorically lamentable. And in my individual pursuit of happiness, I find it difficult to ponder my own 'bigger-picture' questions without considering them on a global scale. Do we not have obligations to end suffering elsewhere before worrying about our own prosperity? How do we find the balance between the two, if a bright line of that nature exists at all? What is the best way to help? How do we effect humanitarian change by way of something other than our government, which often acts dubiously? How do we use our modern tools to communicate with and help our fellow citizens of the world?

As I continue on my quest for happiness, I realize that internal realization is only part of the solution. In order to be fulfilled, we must find ways to subtly change our world - for the better - as well.

My Experiences with Meditating

Recently, I started meditating. There were several "inspiratory" factors (pun intended) that prompted me to try it out. Most notably, I read that an effective way to focus on the present and to sooth anxious feelings is to practice meditation. You're supposed to start out small: two minutes the first few times, then gradual increases, and eventually you become a master guru (or something like that).

Needless to say, I ignored this suggested process, opting instead to dive into a twenty-minute period of meditation my first time. I sat still, focused on my breathing, attempted to isolate certain feelings of anxiety and understand them as nothing more than passing thoughts, and ultimately tried to experience living in the moment.

Cheesy though it may be, upon opening my eyes at the end of this twenty-minute period I felt that my mindset had shifted slightly. As I looked around my room with a fresh perspective, I experienced a brief period of frisson in which I realized that everything around me had its own perfect order. And while this tranquility wore off gradually, I am happy to say that my first experience with meditation certainly gave me a lot to think about.

I found it interesting that all of my fearful thoughts about the future could be so easily assuaged, if only for a brief moment, by simply focusing on my breath and fixating on the present. I was also really pleased with the casual calmness that the exercise instilled in me. Moreover, at the end of it all, I felt much more aware of my own physical presence.

Therefore, my takeaway: meditation can be a useful tool in defeating unpleasant feelings. While I may not make a regular habit of doing it, I'd like to think that the next time I'm confronted with an emotional problem, it might serve me well to just sit and meditate on it.

Adam Leipzig: Confidence and Self-Purpose

I wanted to share two videos that feature the wisdom of a guy named Adam Leipzig, a renowned movie producer. A lot of what he talks about in these two clips (one about developing self-confidence, the other about knowing your life's purpose) resonates with my recent streams of consciousness. It's reassuring, in this sense, to know that one's feelings are in a way not particular to oneself. At any rate, both definitely warrant the few minutes to watch.