How to not be miserable: Arthur Schopenhauer
Hey everyone,
I've been in a bit of an emotional funk because for a month I've been swimming in the midst of exams, midterm papers, freelance gigs, growing someone's business while working on my own, family stuff... while taking care of myself in limited pockets of time. During school I'm always extra cognizant about how limited my me-time is, which includes time to let myself be an emotional mess.
The other day, upon leaving the gym – where I felt energized and accomplished for hitting a new lifting PR (personal record) – I suddenly felt a weight of sadness (not a pun). I could feel a cry building up which is the last thing I want to do while running around downtown Toronto. Usually, when I experience heavy feelings with an unknown root cause, I tend to cope through texts and videos on stoicism.
Stoic philosophy maximizes the positive feelings, reducing the negative ones, in an effort for something like 'self-mastery' or 'strengthening your character' . I turn to stoicism in times of uncertainty, as I do struggle with it. It helps me make sense of things. Enter, German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.
What excited me about Schopenhauer are his practical ideas on happiness and suffering. Specifically, his ideas on wealth being a foundation for happiness. There is no absolute or definite amount of wealth which will satisfy someone, contrary to the story capitalism makes us tell ourselves. That amount is relative, and the "happiness" from that wealth is formed on these two things: what someone wants, and what someone gets. People measure their happiness based on what they get.
People don't feel the weight of losing something they've never asked for. When people do lose something they've asked for, they feel miserable.
Happiness is the absence of pain, not the presence of joy
If wealth or possession is the basis for your happiness, then you are subjected to the law of diminishing returns. In other words, even though your profits consistently increase, your happiness cannot continue after a certain point. Schopenhauer says the best uses for money are:
Independence
Living comfortably without working
A bulwark against evil and misfortunes
Our best lives are within the context of ourselves, not outside of it.
Find contentment in things that are durable, widely available, pleasurable, and not harmful
Focusing on the actual conditions of our lives (relationships, home, health, income, capacity, education, skills) always increases in return. The more consistently you invest in these, the more they compound. Wealth fails to do this. Your possessions do not colour your experiences, but your individuality does. We will always lose what we have, but what we are gives us full control. If you decide you no longer care to work on a skill, continue being vegetarian, or keep a friendship, you release it.
Do not focus on chasing pleasure, but focus on avoiding pain
One thing is for sure: life is full of suffering. If we are to reduce the amount of suffering (pain) we experience, not only will happiness be more frequent but our ability to experience many other emotions and survive more challenging circumstances will grow as well.
It is critical to know ourselves, and always learn more, so we can discover our strengths and weaknesses. If we develop the abilities we're naturally good at, we rarely experience the pain that arises when we're reminded of our weaknesses.
Something to think about
When you receive only the outcome, but have skipped entire journey needed to get to the outcome (think about instant gratification), then eventually that outcome is taken away from you, can you say you've lost more than you've gained? Why?
An example: You have a business you've been working on for a year. Currently, the business is not profitable. You have goals of profiting millions, and scaling it from 2 employees to 500 employees operating around the globe. Within 24 hours, suddenly your goals of making millions and hiring 500 employees have fully materialized. Congratulations! You have completely skipped that journey, are trending on Twitter, and are as shocked and confused as I am.
A year later, your company has been fully dissolved. You have no more money or employees. From this, did you lose more than you've gained? Why?
TL;DR:
happiness is the absence of pain, not joy
wealth as happiness subjects you to law of diminishing returns
find contentment in things that are durable, widely available, and not harmful
focus on avoiding pain, not chasing pleasure
focusing on what you're good at makes it less painful when you're reminded of what you're bad at
Some of the ways I've practiced Schopenhauer's ideas are also the ways I've kept myself from sinking into a deep, dark depression:
In all of my bags I have extra toiletry, combs, lip balm, and hair ties just in case otherwise I'll feel dry, ugly, and unprepared for the unexpected.
I schedule and set two reminders for everything I'm obligated to do because my memory is unreliable.
I've committed myself 2-3x a week to engage in any form of exercise for at least 40 minutes because years of being sedentary nearly ended me.
Before I start the day, I must have an hour of me-time before answering to anything else, or I will treat everyone around me like shit.
If I feel like crying, I must make the time to cry because I don't like who I am when I suppress hard feelings.
I have not yet given myself that tearful release (ok, I cried a little bit while watching Schopenhauer videos but it wasn't enough) so... I guess that's what I should watch out for after sending this off.
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Philosophy can benefit us all by encouraging us to step outside our existing beliefs and consider what’s possible. It's an opportunity for personal expansion, and the practice of critical thinking is incredibly necessary (not just right now, but always). This newsletter is a bite-sized curation of topics relevant to all of us, and note-worthy thinkers with a short interpretation from myself.
Don’t worry about conceiving something “deep”, “intellectual”, or “objective”, but rather whether your thoughts are really your own. Ultimately, I would hope this curated newsletter helps you realize that personal autonomy starts off with thinking about it, first. Enjoy!!! 🥳 🧠
About me: I'm an enterprising, queer Filipina based in Toronto, Canada. I’m working on my Philosophy BA at TorontoMet University and building nonsequitur, a social impact start-up. My favourite things to talk about are relationships, asexuality, video games, entrepreneurship, memes, and pop culture. She/they.
Disclaimer: This isn’t propaganda. Also, this is really fun for me. Feel free to email me back what you think about the content, or how our perspectives differ, but please know that doesn't guarantee I'll respond because, like you, I am a human with finite energy.