Summer \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Solstice Moon<\/p>\n
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A word about pursuing happiness. \u00a0Or meaning. \u00a0Yes, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. \u00a0I know. \u00a0Right there in the founding documents. \u00a0An ur-right. \u00a0One equivalent to survival and liberty. \u00a0Well, who wouldn’t be pleased to find happiness? \u00a0I doubt I would.<\/p>\n
Now this may be because I have a northern European genetic predilection to dysthmia, could be. \u00a0 And, in fact, I think that’s the case. \u00a0This is not, however, my point here.<\/p>\n
Happiness doesn’t strike me as a desirable state, at least not for any length of time. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because it has the flavor of arrival, of sufficiency, of finished, of done. \u00a0Happiness comes to the human life like the finish line model of retirement, once we get there that’s all we need. After that, we coast. \u00a0Play golf. \u00a0Smoke cigars. \u00a0Travel. \u00a0Watch TV.<\/p>\n
No, I’ll go for a more Greek idea, eudaimonia<\/a>. \u00a0Composed of two Greek worlds, eu (good) and daimon (spirit) Aristotle and the Stoics after him promoted it as the end of human life. As such it has often been translated as happiness or welfare, but perhaps a better phrase is human flourishing. \u00a0Or, without getting fancy, why not good spirit? \u00a0Both have an active turn, taking us toward enrichment, fullness, striving within a humane ambit.<\/p>\n Now there you have an internal state worth cultivating. \u00a0It’s the difference between a noun and a gerund. \u00a0Happiness vs. flourishing. \u00a0I would much rather flourish than be happy. \u00a0Much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summer \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Solstice Moon A word about pursuing happiness. \u00a0Or meaning. \u00a0Yes, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. \u00a0I know. … Continue reading Eudaimonia<\/span>