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What If Happiness is the Wrong Quest?
Facing the dark side of being perpetually perky
Smile!
Be happy!
We live in a world obsessed with happiness. Hundreds of books, podcasts, and blog posts are devoted to helping us find happiness. Happiness is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Who doesn’t want to be happy?
Our cultural obsession with happiness has produced an army of happiness zealots. They wander around scolding you for frowning, encouraging you to always look on the bright side. These zealots see themselves as happiness evangelists. They extol the virtues of optimism and warn against the dangers of pessimism and cynicism.
Many happiness zealots are disciples of happiness gurus that share poorly-sourced bullshit stories about someone they knew at some retreat who beat cancer by rejecting chemotherapy and increasing their vibrations.
Happiness is the ultimate miracle drug. Finding your higher vibration will bring you riches, help you lose weight, and lead you to love. The implied message is, “Baby, if you’re not happy you’re not really living.”
