Humanities Semester 2
So through out the Happiness project we had to Read a book called Brave New World (BNW) and what i learned throughout the book was that Stability isn't the answer to happiness. After we finished the book we had to which and read a bunch of information in happiness, and one we finished that we wrote an essay.
Happiness Essay!
Jenny Silva
Happiness?
What does happiness mean? To me happiness is something that makes you feel good. That puts a smile on your face. Everyone has something that makes them happy, whether it be social interactions, physical activities, meaningful work, positive thinking, personal freedom, giving to others, religion, watching TV, etc., everyone has their own way of happiness, but unfortunately happiness is something a lot of us have trouble holding on to. What role does meaning play in finding happiness? How can you actively work towards achieving happiness in your life? What do we need to do as a nation to work towards a happier society? Let’s find out.
Meaning plays a big role in finding happiness. We always have a reason to be happy. It’s not always in positive times you find happiness. In an article called “There’s more to life than being happy” mentions, “Negative events means decrease in happiness.” I think this is mostly true, all of us dislike negative events but there are some ways they can help us. For example, pretend you broke your leg. Before you broke your leg you played soccer, but due to your leg, now you can't do many running activities. So when your leg is broken you think you have nothing to do now, so you get bored and you start to do things you don't normally do, like drawl. So what I am trying to say is that you can find your talents in negative events too, and our talents make us proud and happy about ourselves, but that's not the only thing that can help.
Working actively also helps us be happier people, there are many physical activities we could do to help us. A lot of people think that the more money you have the happier you are, but I think that’s not true, people with a lot of money still feel empty inside or feel like they have a missing piece. There was this one quote that said “not everything that shines is gold” so even if something is worth a lot, that doesn't mean it is going to make us happy. I think it's those small things that make us happy or those things we don't seem to notice all the time. In a documentary called “happy” they talked about this chemical called dopamine, and when you do physical activities it releases that chemical which causes us to be happy. So we should do more of those physical activities to help us be happier people.
We humans are social creatures, and we would go crazy if we were lonely all the time and had no one to communicate with. In a video called “The innovation of loneliness” it says that, “The Maximum natural size of human groups is 150 people” A lot of us have so many “friends” through social media, and a lot we haven't seen or meet in person. In that same video it also stated that, “More and more people define themselves as lonely.” So I think it's mainly due to social media because it is holding us back from interacting with people, or in other words it can sometimes distract us from what's going on around us. It’s easy to be on our phones all the time. No one likes the feeling of loneliness, i think we should try to make more time to hang out with our friends and family!
It is important to find happiness, everyone likes it. We are always on social media and posting pictures where we look the best in, and editing/cropping things out that we don't want others to see. It's like we are giving out endless personal promotion. Social networks change us and like how I said earlier it lets us choose what we want people to see, and even though we do that we are not always happy. It’s better to have low expectations because then we are more surprised/happy when we get more than expected. There are a lot of other things we should focus on to be happier people, so find what makes you happy!
Happiness?
What does happiness mean? To me happiness is something that makes you feel good. That puts a smile on your face. Everyone has something that makes them happy, whether it be social interactions, physical activities, meaningful work, positive thinking, personal freedom, giving to others, religion, watching TV, etc., everyone has their own way of happiness, but unfortunately happiness is something a lot of us have trouble holding on to. What role does meaning play in finding happiness? How can you actively work towards achieving happiness in your life? What do we need to do as a nation to work towards a happier society? Let’s find out.
Meaning plays a big role in finding happiness. We always have a reason to be happy. It’s not always in positive times you find happiness. In an article called “There’s more to life than being happy” mentions, “Negative events means decrease in happiness.” I think this is mostly true, all of us dislike negative events but there are some ways they can help us. For example, pretend you broke your leg. Before you broke your leg you played soccer, but due to your leg, now you can't do many running activities. So when your leg is broken you think you have nothing to do now, so you get bored and you start to do things you don't normally do, like drawl. So what I am trying to say is that you can find your talents in negative events too, and our talents make us proud and happy about ourselves, but that's not the only thing that can help.
Working actively also helps us be happier people, there are many physical activities we could do to help us. A lot of people think that the more money you have the happier you are, but I think that’s not true, people with a lot of money still feel empty inside or feel like they have a missing piece. There was this one quote that said “not everything that shines is gold” so even if something is worth a lot, that doesn't mean it is going to make us happy. I think it's those small things that make us happy or those things we don't seem to notice all the time. In a documentary called “happy” they talked about this chemical called dopamine, and when you do physical activities it releases that chemical which causes us to be happy. So we should do more of those physical activities to help us be happier people.
We humans are social creatures, and we would go crazy if we were lonely all the time and had no one to communicate with. In a video called “The innovation of loneliness” it says that, “The Maximum natural size of human groups is 150 people” A lot of us have so many “friends” through social media, and a lot we haven't seen or meet in person. In that same video it also stated that, “More and more people define themselves as lonely.” So I think it's mainly due to social media because it is holding us back from interacting with people, or in other words it can sometimes distract us from what's going on around us. It’s easy to be on our phones all the time. No one likes the feeling of loneliness, i think we should try to make more time to hang out with our friends and family!
It is important to find happiness, everyone likes it. We are always on social media and posting pictures where we look the best in, and editing/cropping things out that we don't want others to see. It's like we are giving out endless personal promotion. Social networks change us and like how I said earlier it lets us choose what we want people to see, and even though we do that we are not always happy. It’s better to have low expectations because then we are more surprised/happy when we get more than expected. There are a lot of other things we should focus on to be happier people, so find what makes you happy!
Artist Statement: As you can see here I painted some people listening to music, dancing or just rocking out. The quote technically sums up what my message is, it’s about how music is my escape. It always makes me feel happier, it’s like a whole other world when I listen to music. I think Music always puts people in a better mood. It’s those small things that make us happy, for me its music. It helps me forget about all the negative things that happen to me in my life. Life is too short to be focusing on all those negative things all the time. Music, dancing, or singing help us express our self’s and help us get out all that anger or sadness, within us out of us. I didn’t quite finish my painting yet but once I’m able to take it home I plan to finish it. Even though it’s not required to, I Just want to make it better so it has more meaning to it.
Model UN Project
The model UN project was about trying to figure out a countries perspective on a topic, which in this case it was on Israel Palestine issue. Every one was assigned a different country and had to write a resolution. Then after some research we had to write a speech and then do a conference. In the conference every country gave there speech based on there countries opinion. Then we had to vote on a resolution at the end and pick what was best to do about the topic (Israel Palestine issue).
Project Reflection
1. What would you tell another student if they asked why the MUN project was important?
If someone were to ask me why the Model UN project was important I would probably say because It prepares us for the future! First of all It helps us by preparing us to write speeches that get peoples attention so you can get more people on your side! This project also prepares us for future projects like to not be so nervous when presenting. When we were doing our speeches I was very nervous but then after a while I got used to it since this was our second time doing a conference. So Presenting is an important thing to Know, especially if you want to get a good job!
2. Think of this project overall- which habit of mind were you most proud of using during the conference?
If I had to chose a habit of heart and mind, in which I was most proud of using in this conference I would probably chose, Perseverance! I think I used perseverance well because even though this project was hard I still tried my hardest to do it and it turned out to be very fun. For example on my speech, I thought it was a little hard to write it and try to make it convincing but I did it anyways!
3. What was the greatest challenge you faced in the project and how did you work through it?
I would have to say that the research was a little hard as well. It was a little hard to find good and useful information to use but I eventually found some. Like in my research notes it took me a while to find good articles that I could use. So I had to be more precise on what to type in so I could get the information I needed.
4. What was the most interesting speech, resolution, amendment, or comment by one of the delegates?
I thought Aminas speech was really good. First of all because she had a good emphasis in her voice and it made it seem convincing. Also she had good facts to back up what she was saying. She also spoke clearly and the way she presented her speech made us, or at least me, want to vote for her! I thought she did a really good job and is a good example for all of us.
1. What would you tell another student if they asked why the MUN project was important?
If someone were to ask me why the Model UN project was important I would probably say because It prepares us for the future! First of all It helps us by preparing us to write speeches that get peoples attention so you can get more people on your side! This project also prepares us for future projects like to not be so nervous when presenting. When we were doing our speeches I was very nervous but then after a while I got used to it since this was our second time doing a conference. So Presenting is an important thing to Know, especially if you want to get a good job!
2. Think of this project overall- which habit of mind were you most proud of using during the conference?
If I had to chose a habit of heart and mind, in which I was most proud of using in this conference I would probably chose, Perseverance! I think I used perseverance well because even though this project was hard I still tried my hardest to do it and it turned out to be very fun. For example on my speech, I thought it was a little hard to write it and try to make it convincing but I did it anyways!
3. What was the greatest challenge you faced in the project and how did you work through it?
I would have to say that the research was a little hard as well. It was a little hard to find good and useful information to use but I eventually found some. Like in my research notes it took me a while to find good articles that I could use. So I had to be more precise on what to type in so I could get the information I needed.
4. What was the most interesting speech, resolution, amendment, or comment by one of the delegates?
I thought Aminas speech was really good. First of all because she had a good emphasis in her voice and it made it seem convincing. Also she had good facts to back up what she was saying. She also spoke clearly and the way she presented her speech made us, or at least me, want to vote for her! I thought she did a really good job and is a good example for all of us.