It is tempting, and it can get confusing. Anytime I sort a group into us and them, problems arise just from the mechanics. Because none of us is uni-dimensional, we cannot say for certainty that any one group is good or bad, or in this case, promotes happiness in useful or not useful ways. One beer company’s ad may be funny and lift the spirits of millions, while it simultaneously offends others. Go to the head of the class if your ignoring muscle has been developed! Ignore, walk on by and give no energy to those things that annoy or irritate you! (Easier said than done, I know.)
Since I believe that happiness maintains a close relationship with freedom, I am not willing to limit anyone’s happiness for the sake of mine or yours. Those of you who think forward already may be posing the question, but what about when “what makes me happy” runs smack against “what makes you happy”?
It’s a great question. But I’m not ready to answer it yet. It turns out to be quite simple, but not very easy, and I’d like to lay down some more bricks in our foundation here before trying to scale that topic.
[Follow along with my writings captured on a recent trip to Bali. They are all filed under Writing Practice, and numbered.]