Our Pursuit of Happiness

This is an English translation of an article to appear in Nikkan San on July 4, 2021. It is a part of my bi-weekly column, “The Way of the Pianist.”

For this year’s Independence Day, let’s think about the pursuit of happiness, listed as one of the three unalienable human rights in the Declaration of Independence, as we all know. Are you exercising your right, pursuing your happiness? What is happiness, anyway?

I spent four days last week attending Performing Arts Medicine Association’s Symposium. Performing arts medicine is a branch of medicine for performing artists, the equivalent of sports medicine for athletes. Several presenters mentioned that studies find that 70-80% of performing artists suffer from job related physical and/or mental illness during the course of their career, and yet only about 10% consult with medical professionals on their own. “The show must go on,” the saying goes.             

Maybe to have a lifework more important than one’s well-being is the ultimate is enviable to many. Whether it is your own creativity, the process of realizing your vision, professionalism or aesthetic standard, to be so devoted to something, to have a path that helps you actualize your full potential may be the ultimate happiness, as shown, for example, in Maslow’s pyramid of happiness.  But I’ve been thinking lately how devoting oneself to any cause at the expense of your own well-being may be very myopic and selfish.             

Studies show that our sense of happiness has a lot to do with how happy the people in our circles are. Family members, friends, colleagues, neighbors…the closer they are in your circle of communities the more their level of happiness affect our own. My happiness is your happiness, and your happiness is my happiness. This is because we are social animals, designed to cooperate and cohabitate, to depend on each other for our species’ survival. Pursuit of happiness is not only our rights, but also our social obligations. Taking care of your own well-being and happiness is one of the ways to take care of the well-being and happiness of those around you.              

So, what makes you happy? What makes me happy is to know that I am contributing to the well-being and happiness of my fellow world citizens. It comes back full circle, but I feel happiness when I can make others happier, and in order to do that to the best of my ability, I must first take care of my own wellness and happiness. And how about you?