Animation by Doreen Yuan
Happiness Editor: Chelsea Xu
Doreen’s “Happiness is . . .”
The Definition of Happiness
By James Zheng
So, happiness. What would be the definition of it? A state of feeling content? Achieving an ultimate goal of life? Or an existence, void, a nothingness that is unreachable? Well, this should be an open-to-opinions question. At least we know that happiness is sometimes dependent on other things.
I think, learning about happiness is based on each individual’s perspective. A thousand readers could visualize a thousand different Hamlets; a thousand individuals could also visualize their happiness in a thousand different ways. And, I think, happiness is primarily and mostly decided by one’s condition; not only that, it is also decided by desire. If you compare a wanderer and a millionaire, the difference is quite transparent. By talking about desire, it is divided into the short-term desire and long-term desire; one could be the wish for a random gift, and another could be the ambition of buying a house in Beverly Hills. One thing that is permanently the same about these two types of desire is that once you fulfill them, they would stack up. New desires would spring up. If you really bought a house in Beverly Hills, would you find your happiness there? All you have is a material presence that makes you content for a while and nothing else.
Schopenhauer has said, We cannot obtain true happiness, all we can do is reduce suffering. And he has also mentioned that most of the time suffering is driven by desires; once you fulfill these desires, you feel content yet there will be another one. If you are unable to fulfill the desire, you only feel the suffering and powerlessness. Despite Schopenhauer’s pessimistic view on happiness, I think that we could obtain happiness in some ways. Indeed, true happiness can not be acquired, but what if each individual truly spent time contemplating his life: what I have and what do I truly need for happiness? When he finds out that answer, he may find that he doesn’t need a large pack of money but just a warm family. Is happiness a material object? Or, is it a pursuit, a goal of life?
In conclusion, happiness is more a self-decided matter. Some people choose to follow their heart, while some choose to follow the reality; the difference is that one is to seek what one genuinely wants to forge happiness and another one is to find things for satisfaction that are not always for the purpose of happiness–like feeding your family. It doesn’t matter which form your pursuit of happiness takes, just slow down a second, and ask yourself, “Is this what I wanted?”
Happiness Editor: Chelsea
My Happiness—Always remember “us” this way
By Quintus Ni
I remember once my grandma told me that being close is a kind of warmth, and sometimes a gentle glance, a simple greeting that can make the hearts rely on each other through the long years.
There have always been some longings in the world. You smile at me, I hug you back, that’s when we start to understand each other, and our lonely souls are no more feeling cold. Even though some encounters don’t last long, the fragrance in the heart still lingers.
We are all lonely people on this lonely road; even a hero needs company. Under the roof of endless time, I hope there could be someone who has elegance deep inside, so we could cherish each other only because of pure appreciation and the ability of feeling each other’s heart, not because of romance and lust.
The encounters in the world are both random and predestined.
In the stream of time, we are all late arrivals.
Who’s the one standing on the water edge writing down his missing poem? Who’s the one longing to get back to the time when we talk into the deepest night? How many times and poems does it take to let two hearts warm together?
Sometimes, you go through a lot of trouble to find someone, but the person who is holding on to you never comes; however, the person you are destined to be with is smiling at you at the next junction of life.
We all get a chance to meet each other and to stay with each other. The chances come and go. There are times you try hard to leave the one who is always holding you dear. There are times the one you hold dear has never wanted you near.
It’s hard to meet someone in your life who understands you; sometimes all you’re thinking about is a name and an expectation.
Time is a blossoming tree. It spreads its fragrance when the wind comes. Memories can be framed into a picture and written into a poem with your heart, and every time you think on them, you’ll be touched by the encounters again.
Pure love is hard to find. If you meet a ray of sunshine, you can have a bright season, and if you can meet the right person, you can be warm for life.
The best encounter should be between two clear hearts and in the warmth of time. The simplest companionship is to be with the one you love, and the most beautiful encounter is to walk through thousands of mountains and rivers, through the wind and smoke of the years. I can still remember your smile.
Time is beautiful. If I plant a sun in the spring, I get to be warmed when winter comes.
As time passes, we’ve been meeting with each other. There are always some people, who refuse to throw away a withered flower and refuse to close the umbrella even when the rain stops. There’s always some cherishing, hidden deep in the silence, accumulating strength in loneliness.
How are we to speak if we are far from each other? The best love can make the lonely soul bloom. Every life needs warmth and companionship. How can you forget falling at the first sight? The tenderness and bravery of love are all just for putting love and sunshine somewhere with you.
The beauty of life lies in the encounters. Perhaps the life paths and the people I’ll meet are already written in the plan of the universe, but, still, I look forward to meeting someone whose heart string plays the same way with mine, even if I only get a smile, that’s enough beauty for me to remember. And to meet someone who understands, even if I only get a glance, that’s enough treasure for me.
The best encounter is to hide love deep in your heart and only wish each other well. If you can meet the right person in your life that would be like meditating under flowers, which paints a beautiful base and gives kind warmth for the time. After years of climbing and wading, there will always be a person in your heart, who has been there forever and silently warms your life.
Happiness Editor: Chelsea
Air Fluffs
By Luke Langlois
When I was tasked with writing about happiness, I had no idea what to write about. Obviously, happiness is different for everyone, and, sometimes, we’re not even sure what happiness feels like when we truly are happy. So, I consulted an outsider, ex-blogger Claire Jenkins, for an idea. Being the purveyor of happiness and the pilot she is, she said to write about “clouds or something.” Perfect. While they are not going to buy you a new car, clouds are fascinating, and a beautiful strain of clouds is bound to make you stop and take a look. Moreover, unless you are fresh out of a science class (or pilot training), it is likely that you have forgotten your cloud types! Let us take a scientific look at the types of clouds that can roam the air with some lovely examples that hopefully make you want to look to the skies yourself.
- Cumulus clouds are the “figurehead” of clouds. They are sometimes known as the “fair weather” cloud because they appear on clear, sunny days when the sun is able to heat the ground directly below. If you can see these clouds, be grateful because you are experiencing some swell weather.
- Stratus clouds may not represent happiness to most of the world’s population because they cover up the sky and hang low. Luckily for us desert folk, stratus clouds represent light mist or a drizzle of rain, so they should represent happiness because everyone loves a bit of water.
- Stratocumulus clouds are a bit of a hybrid between the above two (given the name). They cover the sky, but not as wholly as the stratus clouds. Stratocumulus clouds leave gaps in the sky where blue peeks through. These clouds are seen on days of low atmospheric convection.
- Altocumulus clouds are smaller fluff puffs in the sky. They are often confused with stratocumulus, but they do not cover as much of the sky and the individual clouds are smaller. These are not a frequent sighting in the desert, as they usually appear on hot and humid days when a thunderstorm or cold front is to follow.
- Nimbostratus clouds are THE rain or snow cloud. They’re dark, hazy, and ominous-looking, but they are absolutely majestic.
- Cirrus clouds, Latin for “curl of hair” clouds, are thin wisps of ice crystals that streak above 20,000 feet (an altitude with low temperatures and low amounts of water vapor). They usually appear in fair weather, but they can indicate warm fronts or perhaps even a cyclone, not exactly a reliable measure of what is to come.
- Cirrocumulus clouds cannot be well-described outside of a picture. They are small white patches of clouds that “live” in high altitudes like the cirrus clouds. Some say they look like small grains dotting the sky. These clouds tend to appear in cold, but fair, weather.
- Cirrostratus clouds are white-ish and transparent clouds that cover the entire sky. It may be hard to identify the clouds by the clouds themselves, but cirrostratus clouds form a halo around the sun or moon due to the refraction of the light on the ice-crystals that make up the clouds. They indicate a large amount of moisture in the upper atmosphere or a potential warm front.
- Cumulonimbus clouds are the proper behemoths of the cloud family. They are one of the few clouds that span the low, middle, and higher layers of the atmosphere. They generally resemble the cumulus clouds (from which they originate), but they rise and expand further upwards and downwards. These clouds are thunderstorm clouds and can indicate short periods of severe weather.
- Bonus: Lenticular clouds are a rare formation, forming downwind of an “obstacle” in the path of a strong air current. They often form near mountainous regions because mountains can often be the “obstacle” required for formation.
If you have read this and are not a science teacher, pilot, or general cloud enthusiast, there is no doubt that you have learned something. Congratulations, you have officially had a productive day! I now encourage you to go outside and spot these clouds with your own eyes, predict the weather, or just relax. If it’s a cloudless sky, which it often seems to be as we descend into 100-degree weather, then you can go and be rightfully sad.
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Happiness Editor: Chelsea Xu