In his essay, Ciardi discusses the causes and definition of happiness. He describes the "happiness market," a whole industry based convincing people that certain items, whether it be makeup, clothes, or sports cars, will make them happy, and then goes on to explain his ideology that happiness cannot be attained without difficulty and that these troubles and obstacles are what make happiness so... well, happy!
In the first half of the essay, Ciardi discusses the "happiness market," specifically in women's magazines. As a girl myself, I can attest to the immense amount of unrealistic advertisements we see every day. "You'll be happy as soon as you use our brand new liquid foundation -- makeup so good that it looks like our model is photoshopped! *nervous laughter*" We're bombarded every second of every day with companies and corporations that promise us pleasure just as soon as we buy "x" product. As Ciardi points out, modern day advertisements center around making society unhappy and promising them joy as soon as buy their product. I totally agree with this statement. Our culture teaches young people, especially young woman, that their happiness is based on their material belongings. Ergo, the more items you own, the more happier you are... which, of course, is totally wrong. This statement sounds obvious when it is stated like that, but when you think back on your life, it's easy to see that we tend to ignore this basic rule in our day to day life. I can't even begin to imagine how many times I've wanted to buy new clothes or try makeup because I thought it would make me more prettier, more popular, more happier.
So then you ask: Well, what can make me happy? According to Ciardi, difficulties are a big component in the journey to happiness. Now before you start posting angry and confused comments (or not posting because I doubt I have any readers other than Mr. Lindner -- HEY LINDNER!), let me explain. Basically, everyone experiences obstacles and problems in day-to-day life. (No duh.) Sure, they might be a pain in the bleep when they occur, but people often get a little burst of joy after they overcome these issues.
Now, this concept is a bit more controversial. On one hand, I agree that life would probably be pretty boring, and therefore unhappy, without problems that we can all work together to overcome. In addition, our lives really revolve around our troubles once you think about it. I'm not sure about you, but I often think of my lives as segments leading up to stressful events, whether they are finals or auditions. Sure, my life might be pretty hectic the closer I get to these dates, but nothing beats the rush after finishing a hard test or challenging project.
On the other hand, though, this doesn't mean that happiness is not possible without the existence of some sort of difficulty or problem. Plenty of simple actions and events in every day life, no matter how pedestrian, can bring small levels of happiness. For example, seeing the sun rise always seems to brighten my day, as does a nighttime bike ride with my family. Just because you're not working to overcome some kind of problem does not mean you can't experience happiness.
All of the arguments that Ciardi has made up to this point are perfectly valid and well-expained; however, my favorite point is how true joy won't come from receiving fancy gifts or rewards, but from searching what makes you happy and doing it. Often, the journey to finding your passions and loves are what make you the happiest. This is the reason why our founding fathers gave us the right to the "pursuit of happiness," and not happiness itself.
Happiness can be a pretty cheesy topic, and I think that it's best summed up in a cheesy quote from a once-cheesy Disney star: "Ain't about how fast I get there, ain't about what's waiting on the other side.
It's the climb."