Katie Krasnoff

Debate of Happiness

In todays culture, driven by a demanding, materialistic society, the search for happiness is becoming more and more significant. Despite this epic search, people still cannot exactly pinpoint what it is they are looking for or where to go to find it. The definition of happiness differs from person to person, yet is not perfectly clear to anyone. In Sara Ahmed’s excerpt “Why Happiness? Why Now?” she defines happiness as what gives human life a purpose and a meaning. Her writing discusses what is called the happiness crisis, the control over people looking for happiness where it is supposed to be found, even when it is not there. I think people struggle with this because we see what we believe to be happiness through social media, television, history, and other humans, and expect to find that emotion in the same ways and by the same things these people do. In the 2014 pop song “Happy” by Pharell Williams, he sings about how happy he feels and how he wants everybody who feels this way to gather together to celebrate their happiness. He shares with listeners that he has simply found happiness within himself. Ahmed and Pharell portray to us that by altering our outlook on happiness, we can stop searching for the feeling and just start living a naturally happy life.

In examining human confusion with happiness and puzzlement on how to achieve it, Pharell’s song and Ahmed’s text directly connect in their discussion of happiness. Pharell sings “clap along if you know what happiness means to you.” This poses the question to listeners, what does happiness mean to you? In Ahmed’s text she mentions how we don’t really know what we are striving for when we are searching and wishing for happiness. Most people do not even know what it is they are truly looking for. The song is saying if you actually know what happiness means to you then you should celebrate that because it is very rare to come to that understanding with yourself. Finding what makes you happy, even if it is small, simple things, can change the way you live your life.

Secondly, Williams starts off his song by saying that it might seem crazy what he is about to say and then he says how happy he is. This points out the rareness and scarcity of happiness in the world. Ahmed makes readers see the lack of happiness as well when she refers to it as “a wish, a will, a want,” making it sound like it is something that has not yet been found, or something that is dreamed of (Ahmed 1). It makes happiness seem far away, although it is much closer then we think. Also, in the text it talks about happiness being from associations and from certain things, such as wealth or marriage. We have been programmed to associate happiness with these things that have appeared to make others happy. Ahmed hints at the danger of the “very promise that happiness is what you get for having the right associations” (Ahmed 2). On the other hand, the song sings about being happy for no reason at all.  The lyrics speak to everyone, urging people to never let anyone drag them down or take away from their happiness. I believe that other people often affect our happiness and it is a wonderful thing to be able to stop ourselves from letting others take away or disturb our happiness. I think he is sharing how joyous it is to feel happy and encouraging everyone to forget about all their problems and just be happy. Be happy with the small parts of life that we all take for granted. Forget about what you think will make you happy later, and concentrate on what is making you happy now.

Lastly, Pharell claims what he is saying could shock people because everyone seems to be searching for happiness throughout their life and may never get it because they are too focused on obtaining something that they are not even sure of. Ahmed mirrors Pharell’s lyrics by quoting Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer arguing that “there is probably no other goal in life that commands such a high degree of consensus” (Ahmed 1).  People are not living in the moment, but rather reaching for future happiness. Before we know it, the future is now and we are still searching and striving for this enigmatic sensation of happiness.

In conclusion, I think everyone is too caught up in the happiness crisis. We are wasting our time searching for something that is right in front of us. The cultural text I have chosen and Ahmed’s excerpt are trying to tell us that happiness should be simplified, not thought about in the way we see on television and in magazines, but in our own way. We need to stop looking for something that cannot be found and live in the moment. By looking at Williams song in this way, and analyzing it alongside Ahmed’s work, we can see how relevant our own mindset is to our happiness.