For me, contrariwise, the happiness is in the pursuit - the pursuit of a healthier, safer, more equal, more productive future for me and all the people around me. But this belief relies upon a positive forward outlook and an understanding that the pursuit is never over.
Unlike the current regime I have just enough awareness of history to know that the “good old days” or the “Gilded Age” were not universally good or Gilded.
Though the phrase ‘the pursuit of happiness’ is fine and noble, it is also vague because happiness is not an idea that can be set in stone, so to speak. While we, as human beings share a host of physical traits, each of us defines happiness differently. For me, happiness is deeply embedded in creative expression and quality of life, both in our own and in the pleasure we take in inspiring happiness in others. But because everything in creation is a duality, there are far too many among us who prefer to define happiness as their own will, psychologically, ideologically and/or financially to dominate others and deny them the right and ability to enjoy and strengthen the goodness in life. Nevertheless, we must remain focused on our individual journeys toward building and maintaining the idealism inherent in our better angels.
This is a thought-provoking substack post and it deserves a thoughtful response. I have been asking myself this a lot lately, so I presume you are asking for our heartfelt, deep yearnings on this topic, which has become much more relevant with this autocratic wallpapering of our democracy.
What IS happiness, indeed? Is it fulfillment of our deepest desires? Of our physical wants and needs? Of our perception that all is right with the world? Is it a deep faith that we shall all come together in community and support to help each other when we are troubled or in trouble or our democracy is in trouble, and that everything will “turn round right” in the end?
I know what it is not. Happiness is not fear of the future. Happiness is not the lonely isolation that feels like nobody cares what happens to others. Happiness is not mistrust of everything that we read or see on the news. I am not talking about discernment. That is a separate and distinct skill and I aspire to it…in fact it has become a method of survival. But when we can no longer agree on facts; when we cannot separate lies from objective truth or basic truths about our human condition and the ethics required of us to be as honest as we can so that we can live peacefully with each other…this, too, is not happiness. Happiness is not greed. Happiness is not salivating over power. Happiness is not scrambling over others with no regard for their humanity in order to catch the brass ring. Happiness is not deliberate deception. Happiness is not cruelty.
While happiness may be an individual thing, like the appearance of a shooting star where one says, “There it is! I see it and I feel it!”…some feel that this experience is enhanced by being with others. “There it is! WE see it! Do you see it? I see it! I feel it…do YOU?” That shared experience is heady. It is enlightening. It is inspiring. It is joyful. Those of us who dare may even call it…HAPPINESS.
We humans have the capacity to physically move, think and feel emotions. I believe The pursuit of happiness is referring to seeking emotional stability, positive emotional health. Which is currently impossible if you are aware of the despot trying his best to destroy any chance of that pursuit. Causing fear, which leads to anger.
I have thought about this question a lot and I still have trouble with it because one person's pursuit of happiness might be someone else's misery. For example, an enslaver might consider owning more slaves the way to happiness. Is he entitled to pursue that end? Andrew Tate thinks happiness is raping women. I could go on but you get the point. I am sure my take in this issue is unusual but I do see things differently and you did ask. Hope this helps in some weird way.
Jeffrey Rosen, who runs the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, wrote a book in 2024 about this. Called "The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America," it explains that they saw the pursuit of happiness as an inner, spiritual journey. Here's an overview of the book plus a link to its website, where you can watch videos of "book talk" events where Mr Rosen talks about it...
Jeffrey Rosen's book, The Pursuit of Happiness, argues that the Founding Fathers viewed happiness not as fleeting pleasure, but as the lifelong pursuit of virtue, self-mastery, and character development inspired by classical writers like Cicero and Aristotle. Through profiles of figures like Franklin, Washington, and Jefferson, Rosen shows how they practiced virtues like temperance, moderation, and industry as essential for personal and political self-government, a concept that has shifted in modern times towards immediate gratification.
Key themes in the book:
Classical influence: The Founders were deeply influenced by Greek and Roman philosophers who defined happiness (eudaimonia) as living a life of excellence and virtue, not just feeling good.
Virtue as self-mastery: Happiness was seen as a daily practice of self-improvement, requiring discipline, reason, and the moderation of passions to achieve a calm self-mastery.
Founders' practices: Figures like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson created systems for self-improvement, tracking virtues and reading works by classical thinkers to cultivate character.
Personal and political connection: The Founders believed that personal self-government through virtue was a prerequisite for successful political self-government.
A shift in meaning: Rosen contrasts this classical view with the modern interpretation of happiness as immediate gratification, highlighting a significant shift in the concept's meaning over time.
And now it means you have right to vote but not right to have it mean anything in racist districts. And it does not mean right to afford food or Healthcare. Pursuit does not mean happy. Everyone has right to build spaceship and travel to the moon.
I was fortunate to work for many years at a small tech company led by an individual who established Eudaimonia as the keyword for the company's underlying mission. I hadn't been familiar with the concept, though I had heard the word before. When Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, he was heavily influenced by classical Greek and Roman philosophers. In the 18th century, "happiness" did not mean fleeting joy or sensory pleasure. It meant eudaimonia—a state of human flourishing achieved through lifelong virtue, civic duty, and self-mastery. The Founders believed that the right to pursue happiness was the right to develop one's moral character. Happiness, over time, has devolved into a "feeling good" hedonistic treadmill, devaluing feelings like grief, struggle, and frustration, which are vital components of personal growth and deep meaning. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin believed that virtue was the foundation of happiness. It meant acting with integrity, mastering one's desires, and contributing to the community. Rather than passive enjoyment, happiness was seen as an active quest to develop one’s talents, contribute to society, and live a life of value. Aristotle argued in his Nicomachean Ethics that eudaimonia is an active life of virtue. However, he realistically noted that humans cannot easily practice virtue or flourish if they are destitute, starving, or powerless. He asserted that a flourishing person requires a baseline level of "external goods;" shelter, tools, and land. The shift to happiness as self-centered accumulation grew out of this concept of property ownership explicitly recorded in the 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, namely: "...the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety." Ultimately, private property was seen as the protective shield around an individual. It provided the security, autonomy, and independence needed to freely pursue a life of meaning, excellence, and civic contribution. Today, the concept of acquiring personal property as a means of living a virtuous life of societal contribution is as foreign as could be. No less, the original meaning of happiness as eudaimonia. Both have been lost to history, but we as cultural archaeologists and anthropologists must speak for these abandoned meanings. Happiness carries an obligation to care for one another, and Aristotle understood that human flourishing depended on the continuous practice of virtue.
My vision of happiness is the beautiful mosaic of life. This mosaic includes all humans and the glorious world we enjoy. Having enough and sharing the bounty. I love the ability to just be, but also to comingle with the richness of the US/ worldwide diversity human, flora, and fauna. We are walking each other home.
The Pursuit of Happiness means to me that we all have the freedom, dare I say obligation, to live our life as we see fit. Doing what each of us values as a worthy path without passing judgment on others' paths and without discrimination regarding our own. Many of us will see this as a community-oriented endeavor and many will be more self-centered. As long as there is respect and support for ourselves and others it will all work out. Happiness is an elusive concept. That's when the tolerance and understanding is most needed in order to keep our coherence as a household, town, state and country. We will not all have the same ideals, goals and modus operandi toward a myriad of principles and ideologies. But we can BE who we are and be together as a community and nation by honoring our individuality and cooperative/societal nature. May we all pursue our happiness together and as sovereign individuals.
Many decades behind me, now. And maybe partly because of the aging process, I have found that "happiness," for me, as a concept is too hazy, too ephemeral, centers on me too much, and feels irrelevant in our dark, dangerous times. And then there's the rest of the world. How can *I* be happy knowing on-going, unprovoked wars, famines, GENOCIDES continue apace. And so, I seek joyful moments. Savoring the simple pleasures life offers everyday, right in front of me. And joy is being grateful everyday, for all that is good and life affirming. I feel joy in my resolute belief that all people everywhere, anywhere, under any circumstances, have a RIGHT to a safe, decent, dignified life. Joy happens in the moment...even in difficult circumstances. Joy is knowing that a society is committed to ensuring the common good of all, in community.
Granting that the term "happiness" means different things to different people, here's my two cents' worth:
Happiness to me means the ability to live a relatively safe life on my own terms. I wish to enjoy the peace of my house and garden, along with the income stream I've established over the years and the volunteer activities I enjoy. I wish to enjoy these things without being bothered by a repressive regime that seems intent upon destroying all of the above, then dictating the terms of my life without my input or my best interests at heart.
I would also prefer that my fellow citizens keep their noses out of my life; it seems to me that too many on both sides of the aisle are quite ready to dictate the terms of everyone else's life. I believe everyone should have an equal opportunity to pursue their conception of happiness as long as this conception doesn't negatively impact others. What an individual chooses to do with that opportunity is entirely up to the individual, and outcomes cannot be equalized since every individual is different.
For me, contrariwise, the happiness is in the pursuit - the pursuit of a healthier, safer, more equal, more productive future for me and all the people around me. But this belief relies upon a positive forward outlook and an understanding that the pursuit is never over.
Unlike the current regime I have just enough awareness of history to know that the “good old days” or the “Gilded Age” were not universally good or Gilded.
A young lady traveled with a song and won 5 Oscars(TRUE STORY:"SOUND OF MUSIC"):
https://youtu.be/JJYz8pyXOG4?t=115
Her boss forced her to face her fears:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKuqySkqhHw
4 years after the Oscars PurduePharma Sacklers convinced us:DON'T FACE YOUR FEARS! JUST TAKE OUR VALIUM PILLS!...
...gleaning the capacity to launch the opioid epidemic killing about a million Americans.
Today NO ONE takes the Democratic White House recommended inoculation for anxiety:"do one thing every day that scares you "MsFDR
Though the phrase ‘the pursuit of happiness’ is fine and noble, it is also vague because happiness is not an idea that can be set in stone, so to speak. While we, as human beings share a host of physical traits, each of us defines happiness differently. For me, happiness is deeply embedded in creative expression and quality of life, both in our own and in the pleasure we take in inspiring happiness in others. But because everything in creation is a duality, there are far too many among us who prefer to define happiness as their own will, psychologically, ideologically and/or financially to dominate others and deny them the right and ability to enjoy and strengthen the goodness in life. Nevertheless, we must remain focused on our individual journeys toward building and maintaining the idealism inherent in our better angels.
Very well expressed, Ilene!
This is a thought-provoking substack post and it deserves a thoughtful response. I have been asking myself this a lot lately, so I presume you are asking for our heartfelt, deep yearnings on this topic, which has become much more relevant with this autocratic wallpapering of our democracy.
What IS happiness, indeed? Is it fulfillment of our deepest desires? Of our physical wants and needs? Of our perception that all is right with the world? Is it a deep faith that we shall all come together in community and support to help each other when we are troubled or in trouble or our democracy is in trouble, and that everything will “turn round right” in the end?
I know what it is not. Happiness is not fear of the future. Happiness is not the lonely isolation that feels like nobody cares what happens to others. Happiness is not mistrust of everything that we read or see on the news. I am not talking about discernment. That is a separate and distinct skill and I aspire to it…in fact it has become a method of survival. But when we can no longer agree on facts; when we cannot separate lies from objective truth or basic truths about our human condition and the ethics required of us to be as honest as we can so that we can live peacefully with each other…this, too, is not happiness. Happiness is not greed. Happiness is not salivating over power. Happiness is not scrambling over others with no regard for their humanity in order to catch the brass ring. Happiness is not deliberate deception. Happiness is not cruelty.
While happiness may be an individual thing, like the appearance of a shooting star where one says, “There it is! I see it and I feel it!”…some feel that this experience is enhanced by being with others. “There it is! WE see it! Do you see it? I see it! I feel it…do YOU?” That shared experience is heady. It is enlightening. It is inspiring. It is joyful. Those of us who dare may even call it…HAPPINESS.
We humans have the capacity to physically move, think and feel emotions. I believe The pursuit of happiness is referring to seeking emotional stability, positive emotional health. Which is currently impossible if you are aware of the despot trying his best to destroy any chance of that pursuit. Causing fear, which leads to anger.
We always talk about America being a “melting pot” but I see it more as a beautiful woven tapestry or quilt
Every group of immigrants who have come here have enriched America through hard work and love of this countries’s possibilities
We hope indigenous Americans can someday forgive us, but acknowledging their beautiful cultures and honoring them is a good first step
I always try to tell people that in the entire world there are only four blood types: A, B, O & AB* to remind them we are all the same inside!
Once people understand that- we can all strive in the pursuit of happiness
* with the small deviation of Rh factor
I have thought about this question a lot and I still have trouble with it because one person's pursuit of happiness might be someone else's misery. For example, an enslaver might consider owning more slaves the way to happiness. Is he entitled to pursue that end? Andrew Tate thinks happiness is raping women. I could go on but you get the point. I am sure my take in this issue is unusual but I do see things differently and you did ask. Hope this helps in some weird way.
It does.
The right to Love what YOU choose... care about and care for what ever you deem vital... happiness is a result being able to carry out this pursuit.
Jeffrey Rosen, who runs the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, wrote a book in 2024 about this. Called "The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America," it explains that they saw the pursuit of happiness as an inner, spiritual journey. Here's an overview of the book plus a link to its website, where you can watch videos of "book talk" events where Mr Rosen talks about it...
Jeffrey Rosen's book, The Pursuit of Happiness, argues that the Founding Fathers viewed happiness not as fleeting pleasure, but as the lifelong pursuit of virtue, self-mastery, and character development inspired by classical writers like Cicero and Aristotle. Through profiles of figures like Franklin, Washington, and Jefferson, Rosen shows how they practiced virtues like temperance, moderation, and industry as essential for personal and political self-government, a concept that has shifted in modern times towards immediate gratification.
Key themes in the book:
Classical influence: The Founders were deeply influenced by Greek and Roman philosophers who defined happiness (eudaimonia) as living a life of excellence and virtue, not just feeling good.
Virtue as self-mastery: Happiness was seen as a daily practice of self-improvement, requiring discipline, reason, and the moderation of passions to achieve a calm self-mastery.
Founders' practices: Figures like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson created systems for self-improvement, tracking virtues and reading works by classical thinkers to cultivate character.
Personal and political connection: The Founders believed that personal self-government through virtue was a prerequisite for successful political self-government.
A shift in meaning: Rosen contrasts this classical view with the modern interpretation of happiness as immediate gratification, highlighting a significant shift in the concept's meaning over time.
https://constitutioncenter.org/go/the-pursuit-of-happiness
Its aspirational. It did not apply you women or racial minorities. And it did not mean you had right to college education. . .
And now it means you have right to vote but not right to have it mean anything in racist districts. And it does not mean right to afford food or Healthcare. Pursuit does not mean happy. Everyone has right to build spaceship and travel to the moon.
The phrase evokes a journey of your choosing and the freedom of action to navigate that path in the way you and your community deem best.
It matters because, regardless of the path chosen, you have the inherent right to chase your dreams. There should be no “no” placed in your way.
And “happiness” for me is never about money and things. When I forget that, unhappiness results.
I was fortunate to work for many years at a small tech company led by an individual who established Eudaimonia as the keyword for the company's underlying mission. I hadn't been familiar with the concept, though I had heard the word before. When Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, he was heavily influenced by classical Greek and Roman philosophers. In the 18th century, "happiness" did not mean fleeting joy or sensory pleasure. It meant eudaimonia—a state of human flourishing achieved through lifelong virtue, civic duty, and self-mastery. The Founders believed that the right to pursue happiness was the right to develop one's moral character. Happiness, over time, has devolved into a "feeling good" hedonistic treadmill, devaluing feelings like grief, struggle, and frustration, which are vital components of personal growth and deep meaning. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin believed that virtue was the foundation of happiness. It meant acting with integrity, mastering one's desires, and contributing to the community. Rather than passive enjoyment, happiness was seen as an active quest to develop one’s talents, contribute to society, and live a life of value. Aristotle argued in his Nicomachean Ethics that eudaimonia is an active life of virtue. However, he realistically noted that humans cannot easily practice virtue or flourish if they are destitute, starving, or powerless. He asserted that a flourishing person requires a baseline level of "external goods;" shelter, tools, and land. The shift to happiness as self-centered accumulation grew out of this concept of property ownership explicitly recorded in the 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, namely: "...the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety." Ultimately, private property was seen as the protective shield around an individual. It provided the security, autonomy, and independence needed to freely pursue a life of meaning, excellence, and civic contribution. Today, the concept of acquiring personal property as a means of living a virtuous life of societal contribution is as foreign as could be. No less, the original meaning of happiness as eudaimonia. Both have been lost to history, but we as cultural archaeologists and anthropologists must speak for these abandoned meanings. Happiness carries an obligation to care for one another, and Aristotle understood that human flourishing depended on the continuous practice of virtue.
My vision of happiness is the beautiful mosaic of life. This mosaic includes all humans and the glorious world we enjoy. Having enough and sharing the bounty. I love the ability to just be, but also to comingle with the richness of the US/ worldwide diversity human, flora, and fauna. We are walking each other home.
The Pursuit of Happiness means to me that we all have the freedom, dare I say obligation, to live our life as we see fit. Doing what each of us values as a worthy path without passing judgment on others' paths and without discrimination regarding our own. Many of us will see this as a community-oriented endeavor and many will be more self-centered. As long as there is respect and support for ourselves and others it will all work out. Happiness is an elusive concept. That's when the tolerance and understanding is most needed in order to keep our coherence as a household, town, state and country. We will not all have the same ideals, goals and modus operandi toward a myriad of principles and ideologies. But we can BE who we are and be together as a community and nation by honoring our individuality and cooperative/societal nature. May we all pursue our happiness together and as sovereign individuals.
I so enjoy these prompts of yours!
Perhaps:
Music when you consider it soulfully, simply is magic.
Everywhere every culture, on the planet since “when?” has developed and communicated through music.
But separate from the words and the structure of the tones, it IS something ethereal…reaching beyond politics, beyond geographical boundaries..
I’m excited by her “listening” and her upcoming project, which I just verified will sadly not be televised.
As to both of your questions: “What does the pursuit of happiness mean to us?”
You didn’t say “the freedom to pursue happiness”
But perhaps that is the start:
Having the Freedoms (plural) to pursue happiness, affords some happiness.
In fact perhaps, that says it all for me:
The pursuit of Happiness is available as long as everyone has the Freedom to pursue Happiness in all it forms and promises.
Everyone. Everywhere
…
This is a wonderful tribute to a special person, Lara Downes, and I so look forward to the exploration of her work.
Bless you both
This. Each next generation being given more and better opportunities than the last one. And making the most of them.
https://albellenchia.substack.com/p/the-kids-are-all-right?r=7wk5d
Many decades behind me, now. And maybe partly because of the aging process, I have found that "happiness," for me, as a concept is too hazy, too ephemeral, centers on me too much, and feels irrelevant in our dark, dangerous times. And then there's the rest of the world. How can *I* be happy knowing on-going, unprovoked wars, famines, GENOCIDES continue apace. And so, I seek joyful moments. Savoring the simple pleasures life offers everyday, right in front of me. And joy is being grateful everyday, for all that is good and life affirming. I feel joy in my resolute belief that all people everywhere, anywhere, under any circumstances, have a RIGHT to a safe, decent, dignified life. Joy happens in the moment...even in difficult circumstances. Joy is knowing that a society is committed to ensuring the common good of all, in community.
To be able to work, to speak, to be healthy, friends and family, worship, music, art, good food; to find some peace; helping those at the margins…
Granting that the term "happiness" means different things to different people, here's my two cents' worth:
Happiness to me means the ability to live a relatively safe life on my own terms. I wish to enjoy the peace of my house and garden, along with the income stream I've established over the years and the volunteer activities I enjoy. I wish to enjoy these things without being bothered by a repressive regime that seems intent upon destroying all of the above, then dictating the terms of my life without my input or my best interests at heart.
I would also prefer that my fellow citizens keep their noses out of my life; it seems to me that too many on both sides of the aisle are quite ready to dictate the terms of everyone else's life. I believe everyone should have an equal opportunity to pursue their conception of happiness as long as this conception doesn't negatively impact others. What an individual chooses to do with that opportunity is entirely up to the individual, and outcomes cannot be equalized since every individual is different.