How often do you stop to take in the moment? Imagine a man who is not as happy as he wishes to be. He works a full time job, owns a house and is able to pay all his own bills.
However, he comes home from work to his house every night just to make a quick dinner, watch television and fall asleep. On one of his days off he decides to take a trip to the park. He notices children playing, squirrels running through the grass, and trees moving in the wind. He pays attention to the bench he’s on, and the space he takes up. He remembers now he’s a living, breathing person. His worries are forgotten in this moment. This holds a powerful insight for happiness; take some time to enjoy the current moment you are experiencing. Being able to enjoy the little things is needed to be happy.
This message is strongly conveyed in the poem Slow Dance by David L. Weatherford.
The poem reads, “Ever followed by a butterfly’s erratic flight, / or gazed at the sun fading into the night?” (3-4).These two lines ask the reader if they’ve ever noticed they are being followed by a butterfly, and if they’ve ever watched the sun as it sets and becomes night. These can only be noticed by someone who has taken the time to do so. It is easy to completely miss events like this on a busy day. They are small observations that get filtered out of our experience because we prioritize more important things. The poem also states, “When the day is done, do you lie in your bed, / with the next hundred chores running
The world seems to be a dark and unforgiving place, but happiness is hidden within. It is found in a beautiful view, an uplifting song, or a compliment from a friend. According to the Ted Talk video, The Habits of Happiness, Matthieu Ricard claims that everyone “has a deep, profound desire for well-being or happiness”(Ricard 2:39). Ricard uses the three techniques of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to captivate and move his audience. With the use of metaphors, personal experiences, and even graphs Matthieu explained to his audience the full force and perception of the bendable word that is happiness. This Ted Talk dove into philosophical meaning on just how to achieve well-being, without having everything in the world.
and can no longer work to support his family. The inability to work because he
guilty about his long absences, but now that he’s home, he wishes that his wife would
Frequently in life, human beings go through obstacles that shape and reform who they are. Achieving satisfaction in life is the way individuals evaluate their personal lives, directions and the decisions they make in the future. Through the decisions that are made, individuals are altered and reformed. While our decisions and situations take an effect - they are rather led by a purpose. Oftentimes, limitations and existence of self-sacrifice are built on the ideas of self-control and altruism. Self-sacrifice is known as “the giving up of one's own interests or wishes in order to help others or to advance a cause,” - which is shown excessively through the poem; Dancer, by Alden Nowlan. The poem showcases to the readers that sometimes, limitations should be placed on altruistic movements for the well-being of an individual. Although, the question still remains; to what extent is an individual willing to go when facing these situations?
That one can find meaning, contentment, and inspiration in life. No matter how long a person has struggled with pain and problems, growth and improvement are possible.
time. They were in the tree with Finny farther out on the jumping limb when
I watched “Mark Morris Dance Group Spring,Spring,Spring (excerpt 1)” and I thought the dance was about spring and each person represented a flower or plant blooming in the season. All of the colorful pants men were wearing could have represented the different colored leaves on the trees. There was a part in the dance where they were all spinning in a circle and there was a gap between two girls. I found this part interesting because it could have represented how in spring, nothing is ever set in stone and things are always changing and the hole in the circle may have represented the gap for change and improvement.
happiness, and the belief that in this great nation, people are treated with the thought in mind that
2. In "The falling flower" by 'Arakida Moritake' (438), the element that stands out most for in the poem is imagery. The poem sparks the person with its set of unusual images. The poet triggers the image of a flower falling from the tree "The falling flower". And that flower flies back to the tree in the form of a butterfly. "I saw drift back to the branch Was a butterfly". Arakida is discussing the birth of a butterfly by his vivid imagery.
“It’s so hard to forget pain, but it’s even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace. (- Chuck Palahniuk) There are times in which people feel ecstatic or overjoyed for some reason. We may ask them why but their answer would probably be “because I’m happy”. People might not think about it but we might ask ourselves, what does it mean to be happy. In Macbeth his happiness was to have the throne of his cousin while in Federigo’s Falcon it was to have the woman he loved by his side. In the video, The Science of Happiness, gratitude is what makes us as humans truly happy.
Many live attempting to decipher the riddle of life. What is life? What is the purpose? What makes? Even though we only seek happiness why can’t we ever seem to achieve it? When we do reach happiness why can’t we seem to grasp it and hold it for more than the few short hours that pass like seconds? The question we must answer first is “What makes happiness, true?”
The dance that I will be focusing on is entitled: thinking sensing standing feeling object of attention. The dance, to me, symbolizes the socialization of persons in Western civilization concerning gender roles. In the beginning there are gestures that are separated from emotion and full-embodiment, but as the dance progresses the gestures become more meaningful and recognizable. The lighting starts out very specific and narrow, then the light encompasses the entire stage, and eventually the dancers are silhouetted as they return to a familiar movement motif in the end. The music is mainly instrumental with occasional soft female vocals, and the lyrics suggest emotion, which is interesting because the dancers do not convey emotion until
1. It’s March; the sun is shining and Spring is here! How do you keep your students motivated when they have spring fever and are tired of rehearsing their recital dances?
The poem “Slow Dance” is about rushing through life. The mistakes that people make when they can not focus on what really matters in life. The author stresses to take the time to smell the roses because chores are never ending and there will always be more. He stresses the importance of paying attention to the surroundings and people around you, the sunrise and sunset of the day, the peaceful sound of the rain, the innocence of a child wanting your attention. He is definitely writing from a Type B perspective focusing on the journey not the destination. I find several aspects of this poem that speaks into my life. For one I am always working and my wife and children are pushed to the sidelines frequently. I have to make a conscious effort to
Happiness. Most people yearn to be happy. If people are not happy, what good is life? Without happiness, people are not living their lives the way they want to. Happiness is a way for people to discover their true identity. Working at something that does not make a person happy is pointless because they will have no enjoyment doing what they are doing, and no motive to continue. Face it, people need happiness to do everything. Happiness is a key part of most people's lives because without its presence people will never be satisfied with their lives, realize who they are as an individual, or accomplish anything substantial.