But I haven't (though I would do literally anything to have anything to do with SoulPancake at all, paid or otherwise). I watch and share this video because I believe it harbors something that, like knowledge, I feel should be shared and cultivated as a collective whole with everyone. Furthermore, before this video graced the interwebs the idea of a "science" behind happiness seemed completely absurd to me. While I knew the scientific component behind dopamine and seritonin and the like, and I defenently acknowledge the impact blood sugar and health has on general feeling of well-being...it never occurred to me that there could be a way to cultivate all of these diverse aspects to happiness, which is not just well-being, but this reckless abandon of awe and fulfillment, and call it science.
I'm still not sure what science is. Where does psychology intersect with psychiatry and when does that just become soul-searching, and where does the soul exist?
These questions are cyclical and accomplish nothing, really, in the realm of happiness. But I know that having watched this particular video, as well as the others in the "Science of Happiness" which examine other components of happiness which fall under forgiveness, art therapy, intimacy and the like- I started to question why these things make us happy at all, regardless of where that coincides with chemical imbalances and whatnot.
Why is it, when everything has evolved in us to be selfish, logical creatures, that expressing gratitude should give us a rise in dopamine and over-all happiness?
Why is it gratitude in particular, and not just a regular old chit-chat which inclines us to feel suddenly uplifted with this odd, heightened joy?
Perhaps it has something to do with the act of re-affirming to ourselves that we have cultivated or been privileged with the kind of people in our lives that we can express gratitude to at all. Perhaps, against all reason, there is something to be said about having people involved in your life that seem to selflessly inspire you in one way or another, and to acknowledge this reminds us of everything we seem to disengage with. Maybe it is as simple as seeing the glory in something that has always been there, and feeling that fresh burst of sudden love and affection that re-assures us in times of listlessness and sadness.
We have evolved to be selfish creatures, but we have also evolved to work together. If re-affirming for ourselves that we are cared for and we can care for those we're grateful of helps us feel elated and secure, then maybe it is science.
Maybe our need to express, forgive, and to be spontaneously and unrelentingly kind is a response to our mortality, but maybe it all does boil down to gratitude. If you cant find a reason to be grateful for what you have and if you dont have a way of expressing it through art, forgiveness, or kindness...you cant help but be listless, bored, and depressed. Gratitude isn't everything, and it never could be-but it seems, in one way or another, it is essential to happiness.
I'm not inclined to believe this is all science, but I do need to assure that anyone of any value in my life sees this video. I might never get the chance to work with Soul Pancake, but I will always have the chance to share what matters to me, and what Soul Pancake so often supports. I will always have the opportunity to be grateful- I have met and loved a great deal of amazing, memorable people and experiences and whether or not they are in my life anymore, they have touched me and I am grateful.
So while I may not always be happy, I always have the opportunity to be happy.
That is amazing, how much more blessed could we be?
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