Of course, positive psychology wasn’t the first to emphasize the importance of meaning in living a satisfying life. Probably ever since human’s first became self-aware, they have asked themselves deep and profound questions about their life’s meaning and purpose. It is a struggle that we all seem to face, but some of us deal with it better than others. The existentialist psychologist Viktor Frankl wrote in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning” how even under the harshest conditions we can find meaning in our suffering, and live with dignity and satisfaction. When Frankl was put into a concentration camp during the Holocaust, he used to give lectures to an imaginary audience. In this way, Frankl learned to cope with his suffering by using his imagination to create a more meaningful existence to his life. He believed that by playing out his imagination objectively, he could find a deeper sense of purpose. He did.

I believe we should all exercise this capacity to some extent, and I believe imagination and creativity play a huge role. The human mind is gifted with this incredibly ability to restructure the way it views reality and experience. And as Frankl demonstrates, we can take truly awful circumstances in our life and transform them into something positive for ourselves.

I found this same theme to be very prevalent in the film Tideland by Terry Gilliam. The main character is a little girl who is incredibly lonely and lives with a very negligent father (played by Jeff Bridges). In some scenes, the little girl actually helps her father shoot up massive amounts of heroin, after which the father passes out for extended periods of time. In the girl’s fit of loneliness and desperation, she goes outside and her imagination takes over. She carries around the heads of three dolls, who all have their own personalities, and together they go on all kinds of adventures. Objectively, the life of this girl is harsh and miserable. But inside her head, she finds a way to get by.

Apparently most people who saw the film found it incredibly depressing (which is understandable) but the director Gilliam emphasizes that we often underestimate just how resilient the human mind is (especially when it is accompanied by a child-like imagination).

Of course, the examples presented by Frankl and Gilliam are extreme cases. But we all go through some kind of suffering, and by creating a new layer of meaning we can find ways to overcome this suffering.

When creating this meaning we don’t need to be as dreamy (or “delusional”) as the little girl in Tideland. Often creating meaning in one’s life is as simple as writing poetry, composing a song, dancing, or painting a picture. We shouldn’t constantly live in some imaginary existence, but using our imagination in some way can be incredibly healthy and emotionally relieving. A healthy imagination, in my honest opinion, is a crucial component to mental health and living a meaningful life.

I believe that when we participate in art or other creative activities, we simultaneously change the way we think about ourselves and our world. We begin to recognize that we are participators in this game of life. Life is not just something that happens to us, but something that we also create for ourselves. And by engaging in art and creativity, we feel more capable in taking control of our thoughts, emotions, actions, and life in general. Being creative empowers us.

Interestingly, there is some empirical evidence that shows a relationship between mental illness and creativity. Perhaps some of this is due to the unconventional thinking of those with mental illness. But I also think creativity is a natural coping mechanism. If people with mental illness are more likely to suffer than those without mental illness, art and creativity is something that the mentally ill would be naturally drawn to in order to manage their condition.

But, in truth, I think most of us are naturally drawn to some form of creativity. There may even be a hunger for it, and when that hunger isn’t satisfied I think our lives become drastically less meaningful and less satisfying.

The moral of this post is to embrace your ability to create new meaning in your life. And in my opinion art is one of the absolute best ways to do this. If you don’t already have a creative hobby, I suggest starting one. Don’t have the time? Make room for it, especially if you are in need of an emotional boost.

I personally engage in creative ways by posting on this blog, taking photographs, writing scripts for movies, and composing songs on my computer. I can’t imagine how much less fulfilling my life would be without hobbies like this. They make a big difference, they help me love life more.

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P – Positive Emotions – experiencing joy and pleasure.

E – Engagement (or flow) – being consciously involved in our activities.

R – Relationships – having enjoyable and supportive interactions with others.

M – Meaning – creating a purposeful narrative about our lives.

A – Accomplishments – completing our goals and following our core values.

Happiness: More than just positive feelings.

All aspects of “PERMA” represent certain components of happiness, but according to Seligman not every one is necessary to live a flourishing life. In a recent interview with TIME, Seligman was quoted as saying:

“One of the things psychologists used to say was that if you are depressed, anxious or angry, you couldn’t be happy. Those were at opposite ends of a continuum. I believe that you can be suffering or have a mental illness and be happy — just not in the same moment that you’re sad.

What convinced me, actually, when I first went into the positive psychology field about 15 years ago, was this: I thought that the correlation between being depressed and happy would be -1.0. [In lay terms, that means they're opposite; you can't be both.]

There are about 20 studies and the correlation is only -0.2. There’s plenty of room to both be depressed and have high positive emotion — and not be bipolar.

We’re trying to do something liberating by saying even if you [are depressed], you don’t get consigned to the hell of unhappiness. You can have meaning, accomplishment, engagement and good relationships, even if you are dull on the positive affect side.”

These ideas resonate very deeply with a lot of the content I write here at The Emotion Machine. For example, just a couple days ago I wrote an article “Depression: The Yin of Happiness,” which tries to point out that certain bouts of depression can even be beneficial toward long-term happiness. Depression can drive us to discover a deeper understanding of ourselves; and while positive affect may be temporarily diminished, there are still opportunities to extract meaning and strengthen the story of our lives.

Take Viktor Frankl for example, a psychiatrist and holocaust survivor who suffered tremendously harsh conditions while in concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Frankl concluded through his experiences that even under the most wretched circumstances, an individual can still find fulfillment in life by creating meaning in their lives. Even suffering can be meaningful, and being able to persist through suffering is in-itself a kind of triumph.

Similarly, Seligman is now spending a lot of his time applying PERMA theory to the U.S. military in order to reduce rates of PTSD. He is teaching soldiers how to become more resilient and optimistic, and in many cases individuals experience tremendous growth from their painful experiences (there is now an emerging term for this psychological phenomenon: post-traumatic growth). Apparently, the existentialist philosopher Nietszche may have been right when he said, “That which does not kill us often makes us stronger.”

The main point here is that one does not need to always be experiencing great pleasure or joy to necessarily find fulfillment or improve the state of their lives. Happiness may be just as much dependent on our subjective view of circumstances as the circumstances themselves. Seligman’s PERMA theory is well-informed of this truth.

Planning on the future, not dwelling on the past.

One key component in Seligman’s latest research is the idea of prospection, the act of looking forward into the future, rather than just focusing on aspects of our past.

According to Seligman:

“The basic rock bottom premise of psychology for the last 150 years is that we’re driven by our past. Positive psychology has come to convince me that we’re drawn into the future.

I’m very interested in what is called “prospection.” As we’re talking now, what you’re doing is thinking about how you can write this up, whether to use or reject what I’m saying now. Lots of human activity is making mental simulations about the future, [or prospection]. I’ve been writing something on the ubiquity of prospection and arguing that the basic premise that humans are driven by past is wrong.

I’m all for past influences, the question is whether they are deterministic. Freud and the behaviorists argue that what we are at any given moment is billiard balls whose past determines our future course. That doesn’t take into account that we are forever generating internal representations of positive futures and choosing among them.”

The big lesson here? The past is in the past, and you have a choice right here and right now to envision a better future and begin to take small steps to accomplish that future. This act of positively and constructively looking forward may be one of the most important tools we have to achieving a flourishing life.

Stay updated on new articles here.

SOCIETY AND HAPPINESS

Social scientists and pollsters have spent their time giving questionnaires to thousands of people all over the globe to try and discover where the happiest places on earth are. According to the research on 20/20’s “Happiness”, Denmark was ranked at the top. But why is this so? Researchers say that it is Denmark’s government that plays such a large role in the nation’s level of happiness, a vast welfare state where citizens are taxed about 60% of their income. Despite the high taxes however citizens are secure. Things like healthcare and education are taken care of so individuals have a greater flexibility in choosing a career they will love and enjoy, rather than needing to worry so much about how to maintain a healthy living.

Singapore, despite the huge difference between its government compared to Denmark’s, ranked as the happiest country in Asia. Despite the incredible amount of government regulations and censorship in Singapore, the citizens there remain happy. Researchers say this is due to the sense of loyalty, security, and community within the nation. Individuals who break the law risk getting beaten with a bamboo cane, but this kind of incentive not to commit a crime is perhaps the kind of system of rules that can lead to a more obedient, safe and cleaner society. A similar sense of community is shown in Asheville, North Carolina where the streets are packed with coffee shops, art, and a rich culture. Even in the poverty-ridden India, and in Amish communities who reject to live in the industrialized world, these people have shown to be happier than those in a more “materialistic” society such as the state California. This is largely due to the strong sense of community that unites these particular societies to recognize themselves as a single family.

INDIVIDUALS AND HAPPINESS

So far what has been discussed only accounts for a small fraction of the happiness level of an individual. Researchers claim that “life circumstances” – the environments we are born and live in only include about 10% of our capacity for happiness. But what happens to the other 90%?

One of the biggest subjects of research, not only in psychology but biology, is genetics. Positive psychologists like Martin Seligman claim that over 50% of our capacity of happiness is actually dependent on genetics. Therefore, it is predetermined. One great example of this fact was portrayed in ABC’s “Mysteries of Happiness,” where researchers studied a set of twins who were separated at birth. Cases where identical twins have been separated – meaning they were born with the same set of genes but grew up in different environments – are great opportunities to see the effects that our genes play in our behavior.

Upon seeing these two twins who grew up in completely different life circumstances, it is evident to even a non-scientist that they both share an inclination towards happiness and mental well being. They literally laugh at everything, and they act as though they have been buddies all their life. Perhaps this is because their genes dispose each to a healthier and happier brain. For example, neuroscientists found that the left frontal cortex is an area in the brain that is highly correlated to happiness – meaning it becomes more active in happy individuals then those who are less happy.

The idea that genes may play such a large role in our happiness can sometimes seem daunting to those who are unhappy. Could it be that some of us are born to be depressed? Perhaps this is true to some extent, but researchers also claim that the remaining 40% of our happiness capacity is actually all up to us – we control it intentionally.

In what ways can we exercise this control of our mental well being? In 20/20s “Happiness,” positive psychologists describe a state of being called flow – where one is completely absorbed in the action they are partaking in. It is believed that skillful artists, musicians and athletes enter into this state of flow (sometimes called “in the zone”) when they are acting out their favorite hobbies. It is said to be a state of being that is not only skillful, but something that can lead to a greater satisfaction with life. When we can find our passions and pursue them we add more meaning to our lives and we give our self a greater purpose.

ABC’s “Mysteries of Happiness” depicts other ways for individuals to add a greater purpose and meaning to their life through religion. It has been shown that many of the happiest regions in the world are also deeply spiritual, and it is this ability to identify with a higher being that gives some the extra enthusiasm and motivation to embrace life to the fullest. The meaningful life is certainly not something to be ignored when cultivating happiness. In fact, it often allows the individual to perceive a stronger sense of control over one’s life. Some positive psychologists call this learned optimism (contrary to the popular psychology term “learned helplessness” where individuals obtain the sense that no matter what they do they cannot change anything).

The takeaway message is that happiness is something that can be cultivated from the inside; it is not something solely dependent on external conditions. Through our behaviors, and even how we perceive life, we can make serious changes. One psychology experiment described in “Mysteries of Happiness,” had one set of participants hold a pen in their mouth which mimicked a smile while the other half held the pen in their mouth so that it mimicked a frown (the participants were not away of the nature of the experiment). Results showed that those who were in the smile group were actually happier than those who were in the frown group. This creative study shows us that even by simply planting a smile on our face we are allowing ourselves to become more pleased with life, even if it is a fake smile – wow!

But the masters of cultivating happiness from the inside are Buddhist monks. They spend years and years meditating to relinquish their life suffering and to cultivate long-lasting, unconditional happiness and mental well-being. A study described in 20/20’s “Happiness” showed that even participants who only meditated for two weeks showed significant signs of improvement in their life satisfaction. It reduces stress, has physical benefits, and cultivates a greater appreciation and love towards life – and it’s all accomplished by sitting still and training the mind.

CONCLUSION

Both of these documentaries, 20/20’s “Happiness” and ABC’s “Mysteries of Happiness,” do a great job at covering all the different factors that affect our capacity to be happy. As shown, we can separate these factors into three main categories: life circumstances (10%), genes (50%), and intentional control (40%). Life circumstances entail the society we grow up in, institutions that affect our environment (especially government), and our family background. Genes are the factors that are determined by our biological make-up. Some of us get stuck with worse genes than others and therefore are more prone to mental disorders or depression.

These first two factors are essentially out of our control, but the final factor is that we have the ability to make decisions and pick up good habits of living that allow us to be happier. This is our intentional control over our life affairs, and it plays a great chunk in how happy we can really become. Whether it is engaging life through our own unique sense of flow, seeking meaning through a spiritual deity, meditating, or even just smiling more often: we have the power to make long-lasting changes that can lead to better living and, most importantly, true happiness.

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