A couple of days ago, I was scrolling through my 15 college supplements housed inside a Google Drive folder. With a pencil in hand, I started to write possible column ideas for this issue inspired by my supplements. Unlike past issues, I was struggling to find a topic to write about.

 After re-reading each one, the idea of happiness came to mind. Is happiness a feeling or state of mind? Why is it hard sometimes to articulate the people, places, things that make us happy? Is happiness an active choice? If you practice happiness often, can that lead to reaching a state of bliss? 

Despite having all of these thoughts, I don’t have complete answers to these questions. I find the answers to these questions conflicting when pondering them. More than anything, I find the answers to these questions murky, messy, and ambiguous. 

What I do know is that being happy and making people around you happy is an active choice, a choice that isn’t as easy as following your pasta Pomodoro recipe. I believe that it’s important to follow other people’s pasta Pomodoro recipe to perfect our own recipes. 

In terms of happiness, I think it’s important to recognize the people, places, and things that make other people happy to truly realize what makes us happy. Other people’s happiness shouldn’t define our happiness. 

 For example, we sometimes tend to base our happiness on how society perceives it. As teenagers, that means traveling, partying, having a good following on social media, going to a “prestigious” university, and it occurs at certain moments in our lives when people are supposed to be happy.  

But what if I reached a state of happiness while eating strawberry ice cream with my sister? Or while drinking cranberry juice while listening to Deja Vu by Olivia Rodrigo?  

This comes to my next point. I think it’s essential to find happiness in small events and details. When we find ourselves trapped in an overcast or dry season, our list of finding things to be happy about should be infinite. 

We can look forward to seeing our friends at school, eating our favorite dessert during dinner, or listening to our favorite artists. This may sound silly, but finding happiness in small details has helped me when feeling down. As a human, I’m not immune to feeling sad, but I can actively choose to be happy. 

If finding happiness in small details isn’t for you, then try finding happiness in gratitude. According to psychological studies, people who practice gratitude are more likely to be happy. Let’s not save our gratitude when sitting around the Thanksgiving table. When feeling ungrateful, practice gratitude. 

When feeling grateful, drench yourself in gratitude. For example, we can be grateful for the simple things (waking up, feeling energized, having amazing friends, having food on the table, etc…). 

Parker family, I encourage you to choose to be actively happy. Happiness is a choice that is sometimes hard to make, but I assure you that it changes the way you view the world around you. Continue finding the people, places, and things that make you happy because the list is never-ending. Most importantly, step away from the things that rob you of your happiness. Find your happiness, and illuminate others to find theirs.