When we attended Lit Fest as a class on Friday, the woman from the Handsome Family group said one thing that particularly stuck with me. She said that she only liked to write songs that had some sadness and melancholy feelings in them. She also critisized Americans on the whole for having what she called "an aversion to sadness".
Now, I personally would consider myself a very happy person on the whole, and I must admit that I pride myself on the fact. I like being happy and I feel better when I am smiling. Is everyone else not the same way? Isn't one of the goals of living to be happy?Scientists have shown that the simple act of smiling releases endorphins in your brain, which chemically improve your mood. Alan Hirsch, neurological director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, says, "Endorphins are neurotransmitters produced in the brain that reduce pain...They have also been known to induce euphoria." (from your total health)
Reducing pain. Sounds great, right? Maybe not. "Creating" happiness just by smiling might make you feel good, but after a while it can feel a little bit shallow. Even simple happiness is a strange thing. "Happy" is one of those "easy" adjectives that most English teachers tell their students not to use in formal writing due to its lack of true description and depth. It's like the Froot Loops of describing words.
My personal theory of why Americans in particular have such a love of happiness: we have short attention spans. Being happy is easy, as we are attracted to bright lights, laughing people, and funny commercials and pop-ups. Actually taking the time to experience some "real" emotion is something that we might not all do.
But maybe it would be worthwhile.
I have to disagree with you when you say that being happy is easy. I know many people in my life where for them, trying to be happy is a daily struggle. I do agree with you that the point of life is to achieve happiness. It even says in the Declaration of Independence that everyone is born with the right to the "pursuit of happiness". I think everyone, whether they know it or not, is just trying to find happiness in their life. And I think the woman from The Handsome Family was just trying to say that many people do not voice their sad thoughts as much as they should. And maybe the reason she likes to write songs with sad and melancholy feelings in them is because that's life, and she doesn't believe you should hide your true feelings. You can't always be happy and I think that's what she was trying to say.
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