{"id":10775,"date":"2025-01-18T11:34:50","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T19:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/?p=10775"},"modified":"2025-01-18T11:37:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T19:37:48","slug":"happiness-is-a-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/?p=10775","title":{"rendered":"Happiness Is A Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Just a transient feeling that will pass. There&#8217;s nothing real about it. If you&#8217;re running around trying to be happy, then you&#8217;re doing it all wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happiness is a temporary positive feeling arising from an external event leading to self-gratification. Like sex, or attention, or burping a baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s nothing deep or enduring or long-lasting when it comes to happiness. Happiness is petty, it can be bought or taken from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happiness is what you see on the Silver Screen. Happiness is obtained through the products you buy, the ones you see advertised in the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happiness is good, don&#8217;t get me wrong. I&#8217;m often in pursuit of people, places, and situations to experience happiness, but joy is much better.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_0008-1024x675.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10792\" srcset=\"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_0008-1024x675.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_0008-300x198.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_0008-768x506.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_0008-1536x1012.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_0008-2048x1349.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/fukit.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eamon; &#8216;Fuck It (I Don&#8217;t Want You Back)&#8217;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Joy is the true North Star. Joy is an enduring positive state of being, arising from internal events leading to contentment and peace of mind.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joy is long-lasting. Some things that make one experience happiness may also lead to events giving rise to joy, but happiness is not a requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joy is an inside job. No external event needed. No feeling of happiness from self-gratification required. Just contentment and peace of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s next level. An unhappy person may be a joyful person. It&#8217;s how one wins life. You can give it away, but joy can&#8217;t be bought or taken from you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One simply feels good without thinking about it. They&#8217;ve done the work, taken the inventory, and are satisfied in knowing their true nature.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9989-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10795\" srcset=\"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9989-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9989-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9989-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9989-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9989-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/sohapp.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeremy Zucker; &#8216;I&#8217;m So Happy (feat. BENEE)&#8217;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s quite simple: &#8220;To thine own self be true.&#8221; Accordingly, it comes down to one doing the work, taking the inventory, and writing their own story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is it self-hate for why I often wallow and live in the fucked-up story in my head of what I think others might think about me? It&#8217;s never good. Never. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m intuitively gifted at putting myself down, at kicking myself in the gut whenever\/wherever possible. I have a knack for it. I&#8217;m great at it. A pro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It needs to be reasonable, honest, and thorough. &#8220;No one will ever know&#8221; or &#8220;no one saw it&#8221; won&#8217;t help. You are the no one. You know it. You saw it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does this doom us to a lifetime of failure? Are we therefore here only to trudge through the mire of inadequacy and incompetence? We think not.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9900-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10798\" srcset=\"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9900-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9900-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9900-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9900-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_9900-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/happy.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Happy Mayfield; &#8216;Happy&#8217;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Hank writes about these things in his &#8220;Questions and Answers Chapter&#8221; that was never published. I nonetheless enjoy reading his manuscript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Are you going to pick yourself up and be better in the future? Not better as the world sees it, but better as your vision of yourself sees it?&#8221; Hmm&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Makes total sense to me. To do otherwise, to try to emulate some higher forever always unobtainable state of being, seems like utter failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We don&#8217;t speak the same language. Chaste. Prudent. Cautious. These words are foreign, like trying to read Swahili or something in Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Best to do the work, figure out what &#8220;To thine own self be true&#8221; means, lean into those things that make you happy, and always searching for joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/famtrad.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hank Williams Jr; &#8216;Family Tradition&#8217;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just a transient feeling that will pass. There&#8217;s nothing real about it. If you&#8217;re running around trying to be happy, then you&#8217;re doing it all wrong. Happiness is a temporary positive feeling arising from an external event leading to self-gratification. Like sex, or attention, or burping a baby. There&#8217;s nothing deep or enduring or long-lasting &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/?p=10775\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Happiness Is A Fiction<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1315,2630,1316,2573,1118,1117,2628,2627,16,19,2552],"class_list":["post-10775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ramblings","tag-eamon","tag-family-tradition","tag-fuck-it-i-dont-want-you-back","tag-hank-williams-jr","tag-happy","tag-happy-mayfield","tag-im-so-happy","tag-jeremy-zucker","tag-neuroticattorney","tag-neuroticattorney-com","tag-ramblings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10775"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10802,"href":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10775\/revisions\/10802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuroticattorney.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}