TL;DR: Local tumblr user confused by the idea of being happy to the point of writing an essay proposing that they have achieved something philosophers have been working towards for hundreds of years.
Iāve been pretty calm in the face of a situation that wouldāve stressed me out to the point of tears just a few months ago, and Itās canāt tell if Iāve achieved āeternalā contentment (I donāt know Iām how long this is going to last) or if this is positive apathy, and Iām just ignoring any affect my actions and my life may have on the world in favor of the āIām going to die anyway, what does it matter?ā mentality.
They could very likely be the same thing, and if thatās the case, Iām not sure if Iām liking āEternal contentmentā very much.
My feelings and emotions feel ādull,ā like theyāre just constant little splashes in an ocean, when they used to be sporadic waves in a kiddie pool.
In a way, this is everything I couldāve wanted, to put my emotions on a back burner and forget about them to accomplish ācompleteā objectivity. To chose whether or not I want to indulge in stress, sadness, anger, etc.
I suppose I could always do that in retrospect, and I kind of have been, but this is different, in a way. When I wanted to ignore the way I felt before, I had to mentally distract myself with music, puzzles, YouTube, etc, and it wasnāt always effective. Now, I feel like I can take my feelings head on, and thatās how I ignore them. Once I acknowledge how menial the feeling actually is, it crumbles into (next to) nothing.
Itās almost like getting to choose whether I want to feel physical pain. Pain is important, it lets you know when something is wrong and needs to be addressed. Itās almost like stress in that way. When Iām given the choice to turn off pain, Iām given the choice to ignore important things, and let myself decay.
Where there āshouldā be stress ebbing beneath the surface, a constant yet dull presence until I choose to deal with it, there is a disturbing calm in its place. The stress is still there. Itās just significantly easier to ignore.
I donāt get as angry at things (āIs there really a reason to be angry over this? It wonāt matter in the long run.ā) I find it easier to over come social anxiety (āWhy should I be scared of this? It wonāt matter in the long run.ā), etc. I also like myself more. Not as weird of a feeling as I thought.
This rationalizing isnāt something Iām putting conscious effort into either. Or I donāt believe that I am.
Itās not nessesarily a bad feeling. Just abnormal. Iāve never felt this before. Maybe itās only a weird feeling because Iām not used to it. Maybe this is how other people feel all the time.
Iāve contemplated and dismissed the idea that this is happiness, hence why I called this feeling āeternal contentment.ā Happiness, like every emotion, is temporary, and āeternal happinessā doesnāt exist.
What everyone is looking for is eternal contentment, satisfaction with their life stemming from acceptance, and though itās debatable whether or not that exists either, I think it, at least my definition of it, describes what Iām feeling the best.
At this point, Iām just vomiting words onto a page hoping it makes sense, and i think thatās my cue to stop. Iām getting too close to writing an MLA formatted essay on happiness, and I have shit to do.