This rather exaggerated but true to life account of a holiday tradition symbolized for me how hard it is to cherish this special time of the year, without getting lost in the commercial craze. Why is it so hard for us to slow down, to look inward and feel the joy that the holiday season brings, all the while forgetting to value things and people to which no monetary unit can be attached? We are globally so used to express everything in numbers, analyze statistics and utilizing algorithms in our daily life without knowing so. I am convinced that a well-written algorithm could even lower the anguish in Macy's SantaLand by optimizing the line movement in relativity to the demand of Santa pictures. For all I know an app would be helpful to inform us about the average waiting time at any given moment.
In a recent conversation, someone pointed out to me that through our tendency to consider life's measurable units (such as GDP, SAT scores, income, etc.) more valuable, we depreciate the quality of life, because we just can't express it in numbers. That got me thinking about how we define happiness, especially during this time of the year, when we wish each other Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Children's wishlists are listing items that are exorbitantly high in price, holiday budgets are stretched, stress levels in families increase in an attempt to recreate the happy family get-togethers that marketing executives sell us starting in September. It could all be so much easier for us if we tried consciously to slow down, look inward and create an atmosphere in our daily routines that allows us to open up for the spirit of the season.
I firmly believe that we have lost the ability to cherish the simple things in life, that touch our hearts and souls and feed us after the last present was unwrapped. Less is indeed more, and I go back to my previous blog about choices that we need to make for ourselves, regardless of what the popular opinion seems to stipulate. I remember years back, when I was working in a retail store during the holiday shopping season, how challenging it was to keep my spirit of the season soaring, until an acquaintance sent me a recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio. During my 10 minute commute to the mall, this festive piece of music helped me zoom in on what did matter to me the most at that time, a classical tune to tune out all other sounds around me for a few minutes.
Peace on Earth is our wish to the world this season, and yet it seems to be so out of reach, dividing nations over religious and tribal conflicts. Attaining and sustaining peace is almost like taking apart a Rube Goldberg machine, an elaborate chain reaction contraption where everything is connected and in balance until the first piece starts to move. Happiness can create peace and perfect balance. So, what makes us happy, and how do we measure it to find out we have reached that just right amount that sustains peace on earth? The small country of Bhutan seems to have taken this concept to the highest level, developing the Gross National Happiness (not the Gross National Product), giving this non-economic index true value (http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/).
The Gross National Happiness Index (GNH) is tied in with political and economic screening tools, which in turn are based on surveys of the population. In its most simple way, the GNH determines what conditions need to be improved in order to make "not yet happy people" happy. In order to understand this, we need to move away from our western definition of happiness and understand the nine pillars of gross national happiness, which are multidimensional and highly subjective:
psychological well being, time use, community vitality,
cultural diversity,
ecological resilience,
living standard,
health,
education, and
good governance.
Rather than trying to explain the complicated mathematical model behind the GNH Index, I invite you to watch this 4 minute youtube video:
Since much of the measured GNH Index seems to rely on subjectivity and only increases when we realize that material things are not proportional to more happiness if a certain basic level of economic and political well being has been achieved, it explains why people in underdeveloped countries sometimes seem to achieve this better than us in western, industrialized nations. We have forgotten that a simpler life can be more rewarding, that a quiet moment can resonate louder in us than all the outside noise in our busy lives.
In my opinion, David Sedaris criticizes our commercialized world, our addiction to busy non-stop lifestyles, and our need to have it all. In his sarcastic account of the Elf's suffering at Santa Land, he may send us a wake up call, to refocus and zoom in. When we take a few minutes out of every day to be still, reading an inspirational quote, drinking a soothing cup of tea or sending out good thoughts to loved ones and friends, we ground ourselves and create peace within and around us. To me, that is happiness during a time of the year that can feel overwhelming and loud. We can make it a quiet time of contemplation and candlelit days. My wish for all of you, reading this blog, is to let this peace be part of your day during the months following the holiday season. This is the true value - not be found on the evening news but in all of us if we choose to do so.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnachten and Peace for 2014!
Loved that, Elke! And thanks for the video, too! It is all too easy to get wrapped up in the "hustle and bustle" of the holidays...and you're right, it is shoved down our throats earlier and earlier each year. I am so impressed by the way you step back and think about what matters most to your family and model it with such gentle conviction. Now, when I think of GNH, I will also remember the boy in Baltimore and his art installation that we participated in!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, my friend! Looking forward to continuing the Conversations of Life with you!