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.
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 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.
Life and liberty also have far deeper meanings (i.e.: “life”: where, on what terms, and for whom lived?; and “liberty”: from whom, from what constraints, and with licenses to pray, wed, shed burdens, and travel freely?), but the simplest definition I know for the pursuit of happiness is the ability do what you want, when and where you want, as long as in doing so you do not harm or threaten anyone or anything not yours. In “Utilitarianism” (1863), J.S. Mill provides a more philosophical and complete definition: “pleasure, and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends; and that all desirable things … are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain. https://tinyurl.com/2kjyhudd
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.
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.
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.
That is rather a difficult question. Keeping it simple , I believe if I can bring joy and happiness to others it is returned two fold. Actually believing all men are created equal is a bonus. Fighting for the betterment of mankind no matter what color or creed. Its kind of like being the change you want to see in the world.
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.
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
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 so enjoy these prompts of yours!
Perhaps:
Music when you consider it soulfully, simple 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
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.
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
Life and liberty also have far deeper meanings (i.e.: “life”: where, on what terms, and for whom lived?; and “liberty”: from whom, from what constraints, and with licenses to pray, wed, shed burdens, and travel freely?), but the simplest definition I know for the pursuit of happiness is the ability do what you want, when and where you want, as long as in doing so you do not harm or threaten anyone or anything not yours. In “Utilitarianism” (1863), J.S. Mill provides a more philosophical and complete definition: “pleasure, and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends; and that all desirable things … are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain. https://tinyurl.com/2kjyhudd
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.
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.
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.
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.
That is rather a difficult question. Keeping it simple , I believe if I can bring joy and happiness to others it is returned two fold. Actually believing all men are created equal is a bonus. Fighting for the betterment of mankind no matter what color or creed. Its kind of like being the change you want to see in the world.