Happiness and Meaning
Full Project Description: https://docs.google.com/a/animashighschool.com/file/d/0B5ktO3NLUDlcems1NU1kbjZudWM/edit
Essential Questions
a. What is the purpose of your existence?
b. What is happiness and what makes you happy?
c. What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
d. To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
b. What is happiness and what makes you happy?
c. What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
d. To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Links to various pieces of writing done:
The Stranger Seminar Prep Happiness and Meaning Seminar Prep Literary Analysis Essay Personal Philosophy Project Proposal
Personal Philosophy Picture
The picture to the left is an image of Mt. Rainier. It represents challenge yet staying true to yourself and your origins. The challenge comes into play because I believe that in order to find your true self you need to test your limits and see what makes you thrive and what makes your life meaningful.
Personal Reflection
New Insights: Happiness is something that many people can acknowledge but cannot describe. This project allowed me to make that realization and in turn, develop ways to identify things that make me happy. At one point during the project, we watched a documentary called, Happy. The film was focused on a new psychological phenomenon known as positive psychology. It explored various places throughout the world while interviewing both happiest of people, and the leading experts in positive psychology. Happy helped me realize that it happiness is vital to humans well-being, but so many of us either lack, or don't know how to grasp on to it. When a woman in the film was talking about her tragic accident that permanently distorted her once beautiful facial features, it amazed me that she was able to eventually recover as an even happier person than she was before. I realized that often times, humans tend to think that happiness lays in the wrong places. We think that the more beautiful, wealthy, or successful we are, the happier we will be.
It was very beneficial for me to realize this because ironically, I was struggling with that concept. I was able to overcome the materialistic ideas of happiness and I now know that true well-being and happiness lays in relationships, resiliency, and passion.
Further Questions:
1) Why is it so challenging for people to be truly happy? (myself included)
2) What was it that caused me to become unhappy? Was it a specific event or a progression of events?
3) Why is it so easy for happiness to be lost?
4) Will I recognize and existentialist crisis if I experience it?
It was very beneficial for me to realize this because ironically, I was struggling with that concept. I was able to overcome the materialistic ideas of happiness and I now know that true well-being and happiness lays in relationships, resiliency, and passion.
Further Questions:
1) Why is it so challenging for people to be truly happy? (myself included)
2) What was it that caused me to become unhappy? Was it a specific event or a progression of events?
3) Why is it so easy for happiness to be lost?
4) Will I recognize and existentialist crisis if I experience it?