DIALOGUE

What is Happiness to you?

Posted by Shriram Sivaramakrishnan on January 4, 2012 at 12:15am in Depth Psychology General

Is it an ephemeral emotion or a stable and a relatively durable one?

Can a person get sad, cry, and still be happy?

I've doing my research on it for sometime. Here is a link of my presentation on Happiness

http://www.slideshare.net/ShriramSivaramakrishnan/happiness-9660915

But, first share your views on it.

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Tags: happiness, mind, of, state
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Replies

  • Joe Bill Schirtzinger March 5, 2012 at 7:55pm

    Happiness is a polarity that has to fight sadness. Contentment, on the other hand, is not so much of a polarity. It is possible to be discontent, naturally, but it is not on the same continuum as say happiness and sadness. Contentment can therefore be sustained, whereas happiness as part of duality can not. I recently wrote a blog post concerning this topic on my blog which can be viewed at www.lifewisdomcorner.com if you want further detail on how I think of it.

    • Shriram Sivaramakrishnan > Joe Bill Schirtzinger March 15, 2012 at 10:42am

      Very true Joe. Happiness, unfortunately, remains ephemeral, at least partially. Very transient in nature. That's why sustaining happiness is more difficult (and hence requires mental strength) than finding happiness. I would surely read through your blog and get back to you.

      Shri

    • Shriram Sivaramakrishnan > Lee Lawrence February 14, 2012 at 12:21am

      Hi Kay,

      Thanks for the reply. I am sure you'd agree that Happiness do not connote just joy, and, plus, it can be ephemeral too, very transient.

      To me, such a state has two attributes - emotive and cognitive. Emotional attribute acts like a symptom, but it is the cognitive attribute that acts like the real cause. That's why I meant Happiness to be a state of mind.

      --Shri 

  • Shriram Sivaramakrishnan February 15, 2012 at 9:11pm

    very true kay. As a matter of fact, doing it day in and day out is no small task...one needs enormous conviction in order to counsel others...keep up the good work and keep in touch...

    bye

    --shri

  • Shriram Sivaramakrishnan February 14, 2012 at 8:36pm

    Thanks Kay. That's why depressive patients are asked (by psychologists) to train their minds to accept that they're in a happy state. That's when our emotional selves exhibit the behaviour we call 'Happiness'.

    It is aptly supported by our body secreting some specific hormones (not sure about its name though).

    'You've to think happy, in order to be happy'. Well, its debatable. But that's about it.

    --Shri 

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