smiley face and whispered dreams,

coming at you, beneath the seams,

remember when life seemed so mean,

perspective changing, a happy theme. 

There is no black or white, no right or wrong, but when you inquire as to how someone is feeling, you often hear the phrase "i'm happy" - but... what is "happy"? 

In my opinion, a mixture of events, people, places, emotions and things that combine to make a personal synthesis of happiness that can cause someone to say they are "happy".

The components that make up the synthesis of happiness can vary person to person. Every human has their own taste, their own flavour, and their own preferences.

There is no universal recipe for each person on the earth. Tastes can change, tastes can be acquired, and tastes can become boring. Similarly, happiness is a forever changing, forever evolving, and forever maturing emotion. Naturally, just look around at the growth of any human, as a child they prefer toys, but as they grow, they find more mature objects and activities of satisfaction. Not only do we mature with age but sometimes a shock, or an emotional upheaval can also change what people think makes them happy. 

I kind of feel a slight jealousy for those who are content in their daily life, happy from start to finish, dawn to dusk, day in and day out. They have figured out what makes them happy, and thus they have what I would call a "stable synthesis" of happiness. Years of cultivating, and experimenting, or perhaps sheer luck has lead them to contentment in everyday life. 

I acknowledge, I don't have a stable synthesis. I am not an unhappy person, my happiness is a changing, evolving emotion. However, I consider a goal in my life to find out what my stable synthesis is. And it doesn't mean scrapping what makes me happy now, it just means realising what makes me happy, and what has made me happy, and what could be happiness for me in the future. Right now, the journey of finding a stable synthesis is what I am enjoying, and contributes to the synthesis of happiness I experience. Trying new things, exploring different tastes, and networking. You could say i'm happy in finding out what makes me happy, or maybe its just that right now, i've discovered a key component that i'll hang on to in order to stay happy. 

Please take this with a grain of salt; happiness shouldn't come from making others sad, or reckless decisions to make yourself happy. You should always try for some empathy too, and at best be happy without causing sadness to others. 

So, I guess the best thing to take away would be...do what makes you happy, do what keeps you smiling and most importantly, try and spread the happiness around. Good luck in finding happiness.