Where does happiness come from? Epictetus, Ross Gay, & Nikki Giovanni
Does happiness come from within? Do we need to interact with our world to find joy? Can we plan for happiness?
In this course, we will begin an exploration of the enduring questions of happiness. This class session is a starter class. We provide students with the opportunity to try out a Premise course before signing on for a longer class series. In Fall 2022, we’ll offer a six-session series on the enduring question: Where does happiness come from?
Readings in the course
Of Human Freedom, essay by Epictetus
“Walking Down Park”, poem by Nikki Giovanni
The Book of Delights, essays by Ross Gay
About the readings:
Of Human Freedom, selected essays by Epictetus
Like the other philosophers of the Stoa, the former Greek slave Epictetus (c. 55–135 C.E.) strongly believed that we can control our feelings by controlling our thoughts.
All suffering, he holds, is in our minds. It is not caused by external events but by our reactions to those events – by our faulty judgments and unrealistic expectations.
Epictetus’s essay Of Human Freedom is a beautiful and concise introduction to Stoic wisdom. He writes about “Concerning what is in our power and what is not,” “How a person can preserve their proper character in any situation,” “On satisfaction,” and “How we should struggle with circumstance.” He reminds us that “Every circumstance represents an opportunity.”
The more we value things beyond our control, the less control we have. Freedom is, therefore, “not achieved by satisfying desire but by eliminating it” (Epictetus, 2010, p. 81). Life is suffering; bad things will happen, Epictetus asserts.- Goodreads
“Walking Down Park”, Poem by Nikki Giovanni
Nikki Giovanni is one of America’s foremost poets. Over the course of a long career, Giovanni has published numerous collections of poetry—from her first self-published volume Black Feeling Black Talk (1968) to New York Times best-seller Bicycles: Love Poems (2009)—several works of nonfiction and children’s literature, and multiple recordings, including the Emmy-award nominated The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection (2004).- Poetry Foundation
The Book of Delights, essays by Ross Gay
Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights is a genre-defying book of essays—some as short as a paragraph; some as long as five pages—that record the small joys that occurred in one year, from birthday to birthday, and that we often overlook in our busy lives. His is a meditation on delight that takes a clear-eyed view of the complexities, even the terrors, in his life, including living in America as a black man; the ecological and psychic violence of our consumer culture; the loss of those he loves. Among Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophical delights: the way Botan Rice Candy wrappers melt in your mouth, the volunteer crossing guard with a pronounced tremor whom he imagines as a kind of boat-woman escorting pedestrians across the River Styx, a friend’s unabashed use of air quotes, pickup basketball games, the silent nod of acknowledgment between black people. And more than any other subject, Gay celebrates the beauty of the natural world—his garden, the flowers in the sidewalk, the birds, the bees, the mushrooms, the trees.
This is not a book of how-to or inspiration, though it could be read that way. Fans of Roxane Gay, Maggie Nelson, and Kiese Laymon will revel in Gay’s voice, and his insights. The Book of Delights is about our connection to the world, to each other, and the rewards that come from a life closely observed. Gay’s pieces serve as a powerful and necessary reminder that we can, and should, stake out a space in our lives for delight.
