23 Nov How to Be Happier Without Really Trying
This headline is a bit misleading.
For some of us, happiness will always require “trying”.
There are no shortcuts and it’s not always easy but it is possible to enjoy more happiness and some of these suggestions, via Eric Barker, will almost certainly be helpful to most, if not all of you …
Author Oliver Burkeman wrote: “Few things feel more basic to my experience of adulthood than this vague sense that I’m falling behind.”
It takes a lot to sustain this Rube Goldberg machine you call a life. All the errands and duties can feel like a case study in entropy prevention. And they never seem to end. The clowns keep coming out of the clown car and you’re like Beaker from the Muppets putting out fires in the lab.
You can get to the point where you’re setting a bold new standard for joylessness. You haven’t had fun since VHS was a thing. But you still feel if you just work a little harder you can stave off the chaos…
WRONGALONGADINGDONG
Time to stage an epiphany: Do something that brings you pure unadulterated pleasure. All you have to do is enjoy it and feel good. You have my permission.
Yes, you could call it “self-care”. Ugh. That word. The fact that we had to come up with a fancy new word just to describe the simple act of enjoying yourself is very telling.
Take a second and say to yourself, “I do not need to accomplish everything or improve everything. Life is about pleasure and good god I am just going to relax and enjoy myself.”
And if you say that you’re actually being a good student of ancient Greek philosophy. (I’m just as stunned as you are.)
Epicurus felt life was about pleasure. It should be our North Star. He felt life should not be drudgery and boredom. (If a Greek philosopher did support drudgery and boredom, his name would probably be Mediocrates.) What’s the endgame to all the nonsense in life if we’re not enjoying ourselves? Epicurus would be very disappointed to hear that the question “Having fun yet?” is only said ironically.
You may be raising an eyebrow at me right now: I tried living for pleasure in my teens and 20’s and that didn’t work out very well, Eric. Also, his theory doesn’t sound very ethical.
Epicurus got this a lot – mostly from people who really didn’t understand his philosophy. Truth is, he did not recommend trying to reenact a rock star autobiography. He felt all pleasures were good – but some were best avoided. He wasn’t overly indulgent (some even accused him of being an ascetic). But one thing is certain: he felt we do pleasure all wrong. So let’s learn a bit from the master about how to get it right…
The book we’ll be looking at this week is “50 Shades of Grey” — whoops, sorry. Wrong text… Emily A. Austin is Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest University and her book is “Living for Pleasure: An Epicurean Guide to Life.”
Let’s get to it…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE