INDIVIDUAL SEMINAR PREP HAPPINESS AND MEANING

Sarah Lawton PART I ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS 1. What is the purpose of your existence The Lesson of the Moth Upon an encounter with a moth, which is helplessly attracted to a lightbulb, which holds his imminent death, Archy, a cockroach, learns a lesson. After being asked why he so unwittingly gives himself to his death, the moth explains his personal philosophy on life. The moth believes the purpose of his existence is to be a part of beauty for one instant and then cease to exist forever. However, Archy is much more conservative and selfcentered, and says he would rather have half the happiness and twice the longevity. 2. What is happiness and what makes one/you happy? Research on Gratitude Happiness may be impossible to define because it means different things to every person. However, psychologists are exploring the relationships between the show of gratitude and overall happiness: When their weeks assignment was to write and personally deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who had never been properly thanked for his or her kindness, participants immediately exhibited a huge increase in happiness scores. Perhaps the easiest way for us to be happy is to give thanks and be kind to those who we forget to thanks to in the business of our daily live. We are so caught up in our own grand pursuits of happiness that we are ignoring the one thing that may give us a chance to find true happiness. The only way to find joy is to stop, take a breath, realize that we are surrounded by blessings, and thank those responsible for the giving of those blessings: Gratitude is a way for people to appreciate what they have instead of always reaching for something new in hopes it will make them happier This article shows one easy way to accomplish happiness and explains its loopholes and complexities. 3. What does it mean to live a meaningful life? Happiness vs. Meaning It is unbelievably easy to get caught in the present, and even easier to be obsessed with our futures, but to find a life of meaning; one must find a balance of focusing of the past, present, and future. Happiness vs. Meaning, by Clifton Parker discussed the various differences between a happy and meaningful life. Jennifer Aaker, a Stanford Graduate, said in a study The meaningful life guides actions from the past through the present to the future, giving one a sense of direction. However, the pursuit of a meaningful is much more complicated than improving the past to propel yourself into the future. It requires much more self-awareness and involvement: A life of meaning is more deeply tied to a valued sense of self and one's purpose in the larger context of life and community. Overall, this article discussed many ways to distinguish between a meaningful and temporarily happy life.

PART II TED TALK SELECTION AND RESPONSE CHOICE, HAPPINESS, AND SPAGHETTI SAUCE Prego Spaghetti Sauce 3 groups (plain, spicy, extra chunky)

People dont know what they want Horizontal Segmentation the way to make people happy is to make them reach out for something better (there is no good or bad, there are only different kinds of things which taste differently to different people) Plutonic Dish 1 perfect way (American Dream) This is the way you have to be, the best way The movement from the search from universals to the understanding of variability (how is your different than mine) In embracing diversity we can find true happiness

Malcolm Gladwell only applied this concept to the food industry, but I think it is very applicable to our society and the endless pursuit of the American dream. The Plutonic Dish is when a chef only offers a plate prepared in one certain way because it is thought to be the best way. Upon hearing this explanation, I immediately thought of how society convinces every generation to pursue the American Dream because that life should yield the most happiness. However, there may be another for fulfilling life available to us, which we neglect in our pursuit of a typical American life. Maybe it is up to us to defy expectations and think outside the box in order to find true happiness.