I've written about my funks before . Every once in while, out of nowhere I get depressed for no apparent reason. Nothing major. It only lasts day or so. I get really introspective and live in my head for a bit.
I've recently come across a very interesting article in Wired (a technology magazine of all places) that states it might not be a bad thing to not be happy all the time. It's titled Down With Happiness. You can read the whole thing here.
It touches on the different legal drugs that people turn to in order to stay happy. While certain people really do need these drugs to deal with serious mental illnesses, they write that "we risk medicalizing the human condition". It goes on:
From a distance, pleasure without fear or desire sounds pretty good. But in your grasp, it starts to feel less like paradise and more like soma. A species that shuts out adversity does not survive very long in a Darwinian universe. In the short term, humans with happy-making neural implants would cease to be interesting. Quenching feelings of hardship also means never feeling desire or want. Unpleasant as those emotions can be, they're also the basis for ambition and creativity. "Happy people are not ambitious," Greenfield says. "They do not build civilizations."
It ends with a grim warning:
Ultimately, the problem could be self-correcting. As rich Westerners buy all the happiness products they can jam into their brains, the developing world will be left blissfully productive. A good thing, because places like China and India have mighty new cities and wealth to build.
So. All this to say, next time you're in a funk, embrace it. It's part of the human condition.
Remember the words of Christ:
In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Thank God for that.
7 comments:
be of good cheer... the sweets would love to see you in the big apple.
WOW! Great article!
Yeah...Ive come to conclude that "funk" is part of the ebb and flow of life. I agree that it is part of the tension that makes life what it is. How do you know true joy without true suffering?
Ive also learned to hang on in the dark days...having faith that its not for always and that brighter times with laughter will come back soon. Isnt it weird though how it just arrives...no trigger sometimes. I hate that because Im forever wanting to fix it rather than just walking through it. I always think that there is a huge spiritual component to this too, sometimes a spiritual attack for whatever reasons. Other times I think Ive just eaten too much white sugar and carbs.
I do know one thing for sure. 9 times out of 10 there is light at the end of the tunnel, you just gotta keep walking.
All that said, Check out this tune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftd5eat67w0
PS: Hot-tsy new pic!! Yumbo!
I believe George Clinton said it best when he wrote, "Ow, we need the funk! We gotta have that funk"
A wise man once said to me:
You gotta rise above it, you gotta harvest the good energy and block out the bad. Harvest energy, block bad. Feel the flow, feel it, it's circular. Its like a carousel. You pay the quarter, you get on the horse, and you go up and down and around...in a circular circle with the music, the flow, all good things.
Or you could try Drano.
I think its seperation anxiety :)
Helen Keller said it in a great way - "The best way out is always through." I think though, we have to remember, we need to have empathy (as Christ would have us to have) for those who really do need the meds. God gave us those medicines too.
It's a Brave New World out there. Even my high schoolers realized that life on soma isn't worth living. How would you know the ups if you haven't had the downs. It's just not real that way and we lose touch of realness so easily.
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