World Views

Everywhere we turn in December bright lights dazzle our senses and take charge of our lives. Food, music, and gift-giving unravels our normal schedule and plays havoc with those ordinary things we need to get done. Takeaway all of the yuletide trimming, feast, and song, there is one truth that is undeniable—the holidays remind us to connect with those whom we love.

Merriam-Websterdefines happiness as “a state of well-being and contentment.” This suggests a general divide between those who have happiness and those who do not, or the rich versus the poor, or the privileged versus the disenfranchised. Zooming in closer, there is the clinical definition used by psychiatrists, whereas “a happy person is someone who experiences frequent positive emotions, such as joy, interest, and pride, and infrequent (though not absent) negative emotions, such as sadness, anxiety and anger” (Khoddam). How likely is it that an average person will experience joy “frequently”? Is frequently being defined here as at least half of a day?