OrdinaryHappiness – Low Entropy

Happiness, Part Three

Posted on July 3, 2022June 5, 2022 by andrew

Anna Bernsteiner (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

[Link to first article]Click here[/Link to first article] for part one, and [Link to second article] here[/Link to second article] for part two.

These interviews were lightly edited for clarity and readability.

Nicole

Nicole is 21 and originally from New Zealand. I met her a couple of months back and was surprised to have so many things in common with a stranger. She is an incredible person, very adventurous and open-minded. In her free time, she likes to hike, meet up with friends or travel. She currently works as an au-pair in Seattle.

If you could do anything without limitations right now, what would you do?

I’d probably travel or see family. I haven’t seen them in quite a long time as I live in Seattle and they are back in New Zealand.

How would you describe happiness in your own words?

Happiness is a mix of things. It can be a person, a feeling or something I enjoy eating. Or even an experience.

When or where do you feel happiest?

When I’m with my family or doing an activity that I love.

When you hear or see bad news, how do you cope with that negativity and stay positive?

I turn to being around people to keep myself busy and not think about it too much.

Would you say you are happy right now?

Yes and no. No, because I haven’t seen my family in so long and it’s hard cause I can’t go back and see them.

What would you tell someone who is struggling?

I know it doesn’t seem like it, but it will get better, you just have to keep pushing.

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Alma

Alma is 22 and lives in Gothenburg, Sweden. Her home a little outside the city has a bright red and white colour typical for the area. In her spare time, Alma likes to work out, travel and be on fika (a Swedish coffee break) with family or friends. Alma is an amazing friend, very smart and curious. She works as a customer service representative at the moment, but her dream is to be an interior designer.

If you could do anything without limitations right now, what would you do?

Travel. Just leave and enjoy each and every moment.

What makes you get out of bed in the morning when you are having a hard time?

I try to find something positive each day and focus on that rather than the negative!

What does happiness look like for you?

I would say happiness is feeling satisfied with life and having something to look forward to.

When do you feel happiest?

When I’m with my family and closest friends. When I’m out traveling and when spring and summer starts. It gets really dark during winter in Sweden, and it makes me happy when the sun finally pops back out!

When you hear or read bad news, how do you overcome negative emotions?

Trying to accept what has happened. It’s okay to cry and show your emotions. What helps is to talk with family or friends and do what makes me happy. I like to go on walks or exercise to get my mind off of things.

Would you say you are truly happy?

No, not 100 percent, but there are moments here and there that make me happy. I’m not yet in a place that makes me really happy and satisfied with my life right now.

If not, what is missing?

I’m struggling with being alone and having a hard time knowing what I want for my future regarding work, school, etc.

What would you say to someone who is struggling right now?

It’s okay not to be okay, and it will get better. Be around people you love and do things that make you happy.

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Elisabeth

Elisabeth is a 75-year-old grandma of 12. She enjoys baking, going on her daily walks, spending time with her grandchildren and knitting socks for the whole family. She has been married for over 50 years and still lives close to where she was born in a small town in the Alps.

If you could do anything in life without being held back, what would you do?

[Long pause] Nothing. I’d just be right where I’m at.

If you had to describe happiness in your own words, what does it look or feel like to you?

Being at home with family. I don’t need to be anywhere else. It’s hard to describe it. You just feel like it or you don’t.

What makes you happy?

Family. I’m baking a cake right now, so I’d say that. My home. That I’m healthy is also a huge part of my happiness.

What are thoughts, people and things that get you out of bed in the morning when you are going through a difficult time?

I have things to do, and that’s what I am getting up to do. Also cooking for my husband, he doesn’t really know how to turn on the stove [giggles].

When you hear or see bad news, how do you cope with that negativity?

I get out of the house and I walk for an hour. Just walk, it’s also okay to cry if you are having a rough day. I sometimes do that. But walking is always a good idea.

Would you say you are happy right now?

Yes! I’m happy. I’m not sick. What else would you want?

What would you say to someone who is having a rough time?

Go out and take a long, long walk. I walk every day. Keeps me healthy. Think about what you can control and change, and do that instead of worrying about the things you have no control over. And go have some coffee and cake.

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Hi, I’m Anna, I’m a student and I write blogs for Low Entropy. In my free time I like to explore new countries and cultures, try new foods, languages and meet new people, and I try to write interesting articles 🙂

Happiness, Part Two

Posted on July 1, 2022June 5, 2022 by andrew

Anna Bernsteiner (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

Click here for part one.

These interviews were lightly edited for clarity and readability.

Thomas

Thomas works as a warehouse manager for car parts. He is 61 and about to retire, which he is looking forward to. He wants to finally learn Italian and be able to hike every day. Thomas used to run marathons all around the world, but settled in the small Austrian town of Zell am See, where he lives with his family. His dream was to become a photographer, but he wasn’t allowed to pursue this dream when he was younger. He recently bought a professional camera and is now capturing every moment with it.

If you could do anything without limitations right now, what would you do?

Of course, I would travel more. There are countries I haven’t been to, like Norway and Sweden. I would love to travel to South America and North America again as well.

What makes you get out of bed in the morning when you are having a hard time?

I like to think that it can just get better from here on.

What does happiness look like to you?

When I’m with my family, mostly. That my wife and daughter are healthy and happy. And my home.

When do you feel happiest?

Mostly when I’m at home, but there are other forms of happiness. For example, when I’m on top of a mountain looking down in nice weather, after I just made the tough incline.

When you hear or read bad news, how do you overcome negative emotions?

There isn’t anything else but to think things will work out. I think of the crisis in Ukraine. I believe that there are good people out there. I’m hopeful and that helps me.

Would you say you are truly happy?

I am happy. I have my family and I’m proud of that. I live in a safe country. That’s happiness.

What would you say to someone who is struggling right now?

Look, at the world. How many people are suffering out there and have worries beyond measure? Look on the bright side and see how lucky you are.

***

Wolfgang

Wolfgang is a 45-year-old teacher at a school for children with disabilities in a small town in the Austrian Alps. He loves to play Scrabble with friends, travel through Europe and enjoy warm weather. He loves being a teacher and pours his whole heart into his job. He enjoys hiking, architecture, history and art.

If you could do anything without limitations right now, what would you do?

Go on vacation. On a stranded island. Well, an island with very few people. It should be warm. The Canary Islands. Never winter. I like when the sun shines, I don’t have to think about what I am gonna wear, just feel the warmth. And I want to save the world, but that doesn’t seem to be possible.

When you hear or see bad news, how do you cope with that negativity?

It makes me sad and nervous. I can’t shut it out entirely. There isn’t a cure to having an emotional response to bad news. I like to look at the backstory. What happened, exactly? I wanna be sure of what’s really true. It helps to understand and cope with it.

If you had to describe happiness in your own words, what does it look or feel like to you?

Warmth, feeling weightless. Like being on a plane when it leaves the ground. Peace. A smile. A smile is definitely part of being happy. But happiness can be a place as well.

For me, it would be Gran Canaria or Croatia. Being in those places makes me happy! I’m kind of happy at home, but the real happiness is somewhere else. There is social pressure in small communities, way more than in big cities where nobody really knows you. If I had the money I would move to Vienna. So yes, the location is important.

Would you say you are happy right now?

Yes. I don’t have too many thoughts troubling me right now. I don’t have to work tomorrow, but my happiness is not at a 10, it’s maybe a seven. You need to leave space for the number 10. There can always be more happiness. But if I were somewhere warm, it would probably be nine.

Is there something that triggers your sadness?

I think health is a big part of happiness. Health, in my opinion, is 80 percent of happiness. Work as well. I’m a teacher at a school for disabled kids, and some factors can change your entire day. Teachers, parents or even the kids themselves. You can’t predict how people act. If I get a new floor, there is nothing that I can’t predict, but people are nothing like that. So there are factors outside of my control.

What would you tell someone who is having a hard time and struggling with feeling happy?

My advice is to get help from someone and think about warmer and happier days. It’s also helpful to set goals for the future that you want to accomplish.

***

Julia and Leonie

Julia is in Wolfgang’s class and loves to make people laugh. She is 12 years old and currently looking forward to an Austrian holiday called Fasching because she can dress up as anything she wants and eat lots of pastries.

What makes you happy?

Being around my grandpa. Ice cream and getting to swim in our pool at school. And I have to laugh when someone tells a joke or when I watch a fun movie.

Leonie is very kind, loving and curious. She loves to go to school and see all her friends and teachers. She is 11 years old and also one of Wolfgang’s students.

What makes you really happy?

Chocolate. Being at school with my friends and my teacher. I feel super warm when I can ice skate and sleep. I loveeee sleeping and playing games on my phone. I have to laugh super hard when someone tickles me, I think that’s so funny.

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Happiness, Part One

Posted on June 26, 2022June 5, 2022 by andrew

Anna Bernsteiner (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

This interview was lightly edited for clarity and readability.

Money, fame and success seem to be the driving factors in our world. The older I get, the clearer it seems to be.

A couple of days ago, while on the bus, I spotted a kid frantically pointing at something in the distance. Full of excitement, he had spotted a rainbow. Eyes wide open, he was tugging his mom’s shirt to show her and smiling like it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

It made me feel incredibly joyful.

Happiness. It is a topic that comes up sooner or later in your life and, unfortunately, is usually more of a question than it is a fact.

How can I get there? How can I turn my life into something that I love and makes me happy?

Am I happy? Are you?

I wanna know.

And so I started asking.

Vanessa lives in Vancouver with her husband and kids. She is an incredibly kind, open-minded and inspiring person who helps people all over the world with the Low Entropy Foundation that she founded back in 2015.

If you could do anything in life without being held back, what would you do?

I kind of feel like I’m doing what I want to do. If there were no rules and limitations, I mean yeah I would go to materialistic things, like buy a piece of land and build a nice big home, a community center for people to connect, and I would probably do a lot more traveling and be able to employ a lot of people. Just this morning I was thinking, It’s difficult to really get a lot of traction if we don’t have permanent full-time people in place. So I’d hire tons of people. I’d just keep doing good work and spreading the message and getting out programs and services to as many people as possible.

If you had to describe happiness in your own words, what does it look or feel like to you?

Freedom, liberation, being completely open and not dragged down by insecurities, and the absence of fear. To be uninhibited. I think it comes back to the relationship with yourself and being really kind and compassionate, as well as gentle with myself.

The relationship with yourself colors your whole world. How you see yourself and how you treat yourself is inevitably how you are going to perceive your reality and others. So many of us don’t like how we are or aspects of who we are, so it’s about learning to accept who we are.

What gets you out of bed in the morning when you are having a hard time?

Commitment. When I have already made a commitment, to mostly other people, to be honest. If I commit to myself, I’m the first one to sell myself out. Other people get me out of bed. Consistently getting up at the same time and building up a routine helps.

When you hear or see bad news, how do you cope with that negativity?

I try to see the big picture. For me, it means that we are all connected. There is so much more to reality than what meets the eye. Ultimately, the big picture for me is that this universe is a playground, it’s a school where you come to learn and grow and share what you learn with others. So when I see crime or someone hurting people, I understand they are still learning and are still in preschool. If we are further along, we can come and help them. We don’t have to condemn them for not having learned at the same speed as we have. We can help them, just like our mentors help us. So the big picture helps me to have more compassion and empathy and understanding.

When do you feel happiest?

When I’m with my kids, with my husband. I feel unconditional love, and that makes me happiest. It’s not too much about a place, it’s about the people I’m with. Doesn’t matter where I am. I mean the place I grew up at, sure I love it there, but if I was there alone I wouldn’t want to be there.

Would you say you are happy right now?

At this present moment, yes I am happy. And it fluctuates. Ask me at two in the afternoon and it might be different.

What’s the missing piece when you don’t feel happy?

It’s so hard to name, it’s more like the thoughts I’m generating. How does it shift to negativity? I don’t know. It’s not really that something triggers me, it feels more like low energy. I’m not sure what drives the thoughts. Sometimes I’m with my family and I’m super grumpy, so it’s not them, it’s me internally. I wanna be more aware of my thoughts and feelings. It could be unhealed trauma, maybe that’s energy that’s stuck. Until I overcome it and heal it, it’s there and will trigger me. I can name it when it’s a big trigger, but the small ones are harder.

To let go of the past hurts, and it hurts to heal traumas. I have to accept and face those fears, and that’s a process.

Genuinely happy people seem to be rare. Unless it’s superficial, but there are those genuine people that you want to be around. It’s just getting there that takes work to cultivate it from within.

What would you tell someone who is struggling?

There is beauty in diversity. We wouldn’t know happiness if we couldn’t contrast it with pain. Rather than suppressing feelings of sadness, embrace them and feel them fully. When we allow ourselves to fully feel, we allow ourselves to feel all human emotions, including happiness. Feeling happy starts with acceptance of all emotions. If you find yourself stuck in a dark emotion, ride it out knowing that “this too shall pass.” Everything is temporary, and these feelings won’t last forever. Soon you will be on the other side of this pain. And once you’re on the other side, you’ll have more empathy, compassion and understanding to share with others.

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