S&S PROMPT: PSYCHOLOGY INSPIRED POETRY
Contentment
A colorful tale of our village
In our small village A place far, far away The streets were bustling There was a hustle in the air
From Playful Pink To Gleeful Green And Boastful Blue Playing with Tantalizing Teal
On the sidewalk stands Poignant Purple Secretly eying the Majestic Magenta Who is blissfully unaware of the stare Focusing instead on his prayers
Along comes visiting the Yoddleing Yellow A mellow fellow Trying very hard to get in with the Ravishing Red, undisputed beauty with the brains, who is completely smitten By the Macho Maroon, a fellow with significant doom and gloom. And the days go on and on…
This story has an end One you can easily imagine Nobody is happy With what they already have Everyone is chasing What they can’t yet attain
Finally, comes the Graceful Gray Preaching a new song asking all to be grateful and content For what they have and for the chase all are adding to the flair.
Life in our village goes on and on... With colorful expressions all around Not a blank space to be found With grace and wisdom Hope we can learn and get along Grateful for all we have Yet excited to chase goodness Love and Kindness above all.
The International Day of Happiness is on March 20th and this year’s theme partly in response to the COVID pandemic is “Keep Calm. Stay Wise. Be Kind”.
Mystics and scientists alike have long been searching for lasting happiness. But what if, instead of striving for temporary happiness, we aim for a sense of being at peace and joy that nobody can take away from us — what if we pursued contentment rather than happiness?
Contentment — as in a state of being happy and satisfied, sort of an unshakable trust that things are OK exactly as they are and that while life might take unexpected turns but they will be for the best. To be clear, contentment does not mean the absence of desire. It is respecting the reality of the present. It is appreciating what you do have and where you are in life.
The root of the word contentment comes from the Latin contentus, meaning “having been held together.” Interestingly, contentus was originally used to describe containers, and then over time, it has evolved into something that could reflect onto a person — one who feels complete, with no desires beyond themselves.
Researchers have long studied the science of contentment. Recently, as part of a five-year study to identify human emotions (ranging from embarrassment to anger to shame to joy) that are universal across the globe, a group of scientists from Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley worked with a remote nomadic tribe in Eastern Bhutan. The villagers were shown dozens of facial and vocal expressions, and they recognized the vast majority of the emotions with relatively high accuracy, with the exception of one emotion. That emotion was contentment.
“In our culture, this emotion is very special. It is the highest achievement of human well-being, and it is what the greatest enlightened masters have been writing about for thousands for years.”
He continued “It’s hard to translate it exactly, but the closest word ( to contentment) is chokkshay, which is a very deep and spiritual word that means ‘the knowledge of enough.’ It basically means that right here, right now, everything is perfect as it is, regardless of what you are experiencing outside.” Source : Dr. Dorji Wangchuck
Essentially, being contended is about knowing that one is whole and complete — despite the anger, joy, excitement, frustration, etc., that may be experienced from time to time. Learning to contend is about asking yourself — “How whole do you feel inside? How complete are you as a human being?” To be content then is to learn to change our relationship with what is going on around us.
Scientific studies have long uncovered several simple methods to help one cultivate contentment — you guessed it —it includes — mindfulness, non-attachment, and radical acceptance of ALL emotions — surprisingly simple yet exceptionally difficult to master practices that do get better with guidance, consistency, and the fellowship of others engaged in a similar practice.
In other words, scientists and mystics both agree — instead of seeking external sources for happiness, which are always going to be out of our control — contentment offers an alternative — an incredibly stable and powerful way to turn the source of happiness inwards — think —a feeling of wholeness when the family is around the dinner table together, even if the kids are fighting again!
Perhaps, contentment is an easy form of sustainable happiness that comes from simply appreciating life. For example, spending time with your family, enjoying nature, scheduling a time to do Awe Walk — this is really something — I hope you give it a try!
Happy International Day of Happiness to all — why not make it a month :)
Thank you all for reading and for “visiting” Our Village.
*This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health condition.
**This story is part of the S&S Prompt series — science-inspired prompts to get you inspired — Our dear readers — have a little fun exercising your artistic creativity and write a science-inspired story — the format is entirely up to you — haiku, sciku, limerick, poetry, prose, painting, etc. — if you do — feel free to publish it anywhere on medium, just tag it with #SnSPrompt.
***Tagging some of the S&S writers — Laura Griffith Machado, PsyD Lynn E. O’Connor, Ph.D. Synthia S. Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) ASeiler Dr. Marina Harris John Levin ScienceDuuude Melissa Gouty Dr. Fatima Imam Dr. Jackie Greenwood Louis Dennis Adelia Ritchie, Ph.D. Shin Jie Yong Dr. Preeti Singh K. Barrett Cooking at Home Jazz Parks Skanda Vivek Jenine Bsharah Baines Swati Suman Alberto García 🚀🚀🚀 and anyone else who feels inspired to follow and/or play along with this fun #SnSPrompt: Science related to “happiness” or simply a story about happiness (e.g. news article, random facts, funny meme on social media) and how you relate to it.
For a related story by Lanu Pitan:
Or by Eiji Suhara PhD:
Or even more stories:
