Hapiness is fleeting

Friday, October 3, 2008
Old man Carl was back again today to paint. He asked if I was in college (meaning, why are you always home?) and I had to tell him I’m between jobs now. He’s a really nice guy though and mentioned how someone he talked to just found a job but it was because they new the owner of the company. Watched “Magic’s Biggest Secrets Revealed” which I had taped last night. They showed how to saw a man in half and how to walk through a steel wall. “The Dog Whisperer” covered a Dachshund that bites and an overprotective German Shepard.

Went to Springfield with Gabby. We got asphalt patch at Menards, his medicine at Wal-Mart and groceries at County Market. While we were at Wal-Mart, the guy that bought the Jeep from us called and said the car alarm on the Jeep was going off and he couldn’t get it to stop. Gabby explained that had never happened to us and we didn’t even know there was an alarm on the Jeep! He kind of worried about it all night because he didn’t want the guy to think he sold him a lemon. When we got home, Gabby called him and the guy said someone showed him how to turn the alarm off (put the key in the ignition and hit unlock twice) 5 minutes after he had called us. While at Burger King, Erin called to tell about a new patient her coworker (also a child psychologist) had assigned. The girl is probably 13 or 14 and she has a delusional disorder. She is convinced she is a reincarnation of a 500 year old religious cat. The girl provided all these details about the world 500 years ago. Erin said she is glad her coworker will be treating her.

The jobs report came out today saying employers slashed 159,000 jobs in September, the 9th straight month of job losses. The unemployment rate remained at 6.1%. The House of Representatives passed the $700 billion bailout plan 263-171 and the President signed it shortly later. Another thing in the bill is it will increase the amount of money that the FDIC insures for individual bank accounts from $100,000 to $250,000. Dad joked that this will protect both him and me. I laughed and said, “yeah, I can sleep better knowing if my bank collapses, my $250,000 in savings is protected.” I’m not saying it wasn’t a good provision to add to the bill but it is like a caller said on a tv show, neither he nor anyone he knows has over $100,000 in the bank. This is just something else that protects the wealthy.

I haven’t wrote much about Albert Camus because most of his philosophy is similar to Sartre’s (despite the fact that they had a public dispute over contemporary politics of the 1940’s and 50’s). Wikipedia provides a good summary of Camus. His aim was to emphasize the fact that happiness is fleeting and that the human condition is one of mortality. He did this not to be morbid, but to reflect a greater appreciation for life and happiness. We value our lives and existence so greatly, but at the same time we know we will eventually die, and ultimately our endeavors are meaningless. While we can live with a dualism (I can accept periods of unhappiness, because I know I will also experience happiness to come), we cannot live with the paradox (I think my life is of great importance, but I also think it is meaningless). Our life must have meaning for us to value it. If we accept that life has no meaning and therefore no value, should we kill ourselves?

For Camus, “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide.” He rejects suicide since it is a confession that life is not worth living. He thinks life is worth living. For Camus, despite the fact that humans are subjects in an indifferent and absurd universe, in which meaning is challenged by the fact that we all die, meaning can be created, however provisionally and unstably, by our own decisions and interpretations.

Finally, I think Camus provides a great understanding into depression whether he knows it or not. Going back to his statement, we “can accept periods of unhappiness, [if we know we] will also experience happiness to come.” For the depressed, we don’t know if we will ever experience happiness again and this makes us question if life is worth living.
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I received the meme below to fill out from Jena.

The Rules: Answer the questions using only ONE word.

1. Where is your cell phone? Bedroom
2. Your significant other? non-existant
3. Your hair? dark
4. Your mother? expired
5. Your father? supporter
6. Your favorite thing? music
7. Your dream last night? weird
8. Your favorite drink? coffee
9. Your dream/goal? happiness
10. The room you’re in? bedroom
11. Your hobby? tv
12. Your fear? isolation
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? independent
14. What you’re not? confident
15. Muffins? rarely
16. One of your wish list items? books
17. Where you grew up? Illinois
18. The last thing you did? read
19. What are you wearing? shirt
20. Favorite gadget? ipod
21. Your pets? Chow
22. Your computer? laptop
23. Your mood? blah
24. Missing someone? mom
25. Your car? black
26. Something you’re not wearing? hat
27. Favorite store? bookstore
28. Like someone? sure
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? month