Happiness is the state of being happy or an experience that makes you happy. January has blessed me many opportunities to be a happier person. In literature such as, The Awakening, and A Doll's House, ideas of happiness are presented through the characters actions and thoughts. Recently, in my psychology class we learned about motives and what drives people to do things. Some people have a higher threshold meaning they must be constantly doing something to keep them occupied and around people compared to others who require alone time. Happiness comes from all different places, people and objects. "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions." The Awakening, A Doll's House, and my own life follow this quote.
The overall conflict in The Awakening, is a woman seeking her own happiness. Edna Pontellier is an obedient wife and mother but she seeks more in life. Edna becomes infatuated with a few men who give her the things that she desires. First she meets Robert Lebrun. They have romantic interest for each other but her need of companionship is met by him because Robert constantly cares of what she thinks. Edna then meets another man, Alcee Arobin. He meets her sexual desires but she is still not continuously happy. Edna tries painting, anything to help her reach that goal of self-independence including leaving the house and moving into a smaller one to become self-dependent. In the end, none of her actions led to her happiness, but the effort made up for it. Her happiness was to be completely free and an individual but in the end that was not met.
Another attempt at happiness was the main character in The Doll House, Nora. She desperately wanted to break away from the life that was built for her and become her own person. Her sense of happiness was created when she decided to leave her adoring husband and children. In that society, it was a major scandal for a woman to leave her husband and children, but it was her only way to achieve happiness. Nora did not care about being rich or secure, she wanted to figure out who she was in this world. Once she left that house, she was free.
Lastly in my own life, I try to seek happiness everyday. Sometimes I fail but it's the effort that counts. Currently, I am listening to the soundtrack to the movie The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. It made me think that when I am truly happy, others are around me are too. Making hard decisions but for a greater and better impact make me content in the end. I am happy when I laugh with good friends and troubles are wiped away. I am happy when I know I am being myself and others accept that. This all comes from my own actions, just as the quote mention. I am happy because I am me.
