The Definition of Happiness – Why it all started

What is happiness? Why do we all look for happiness in our lives? Is happiness related to how rich you are? Or is it about the friends you have? Is happiness the happy experiences you have? What exactly makes people happy? And is there such thing as a recipe for a happy life? Is there a universal definition of happiness? And if so, what is it?

I have been asking myself these questions for a while now, while overthinking my life, reading stories and watching documentaries about people with intriguing lives. I’ve decided that I want to find out what all happy people have in common.

How am I gonna find out what the definition of happiness is?

It sounds almost scientific. Defining a certain concept, the emotional state of happiness. But investigating something like an emotion isn’t that easy. What I will do is look for the definition of happiness by observing, making photographs and filming happiness in the world around us. Travelling makes us a good observer and makes it easier to reflect upon life and the world around us. Therefore I already started my quest with a trip to Kos and move to the island of Curaçao for a couple of months starting July.

What do I think happiness is?

Right now I don’t have a clear definition of happiness. There are a lot of cliche’s that come to my mind when I think about it such as ‘live in the present’, ‘make the best of every moment’, ‘money doesn’t buy happiness’ etc. Of course throughout my journey I will investigate these sayings, but for now I think happiness is a temporary state of mind which can be experienced more often if one is healthy, has friends, thinks positive and accept things the way they are.

by: Fleur Terpstra