The Third Sphere of Happiness, or, Chaos in Cartagena: How to Survive a South American Weekend
Just before I left Oakland, Nadia and I discovered the secret to lasting happiness.
We were hiking in Tilden Park on a brilliantly sunny day and chatting casually about our lives over the past few years. I think it was Nadia who posed the initial question. "I´m so happy with my life right now," she said. "But a few months ago, I was so unhappy. What has changed?" The dialogue that ensued would have made my college philosophy professors proud, and culminated in the following description of the Three Spheres of Happiness.
The first sphere is self-reflection. This sphere may not seem to be related to happiness at first, because you may not always feel happy while engaging in solitary, reflective types of activities, but the sense of order you develop lays an essential foundation upon which the other spheres rest.
The second sphere is quality time with people you love, and the third is pure, simple fun. The secret, we discovered, is that everyone has to find their own balance between the spheres. Some people might need to devote more time, for example, to sphere one activities in order to feel an overall sense of happiness than others. At some points during our lives, we might feel like we need to expend more time and energy on sphere three than at other points. But all three have to exist, in whatever balance works best.
Which brings me to my weekend.
Bek and Priya wouldn´t know what I meant if I said this, but we have devoted the past few days to replenishing our third sphere. By which I mean, drinking and dancing with the Israeli boys from our hostel. There has been a definite lack of cultural activity, unless you count repeated visits to Colombian discoteques and repeated sampling of the local drink, Aguardiente. For the sake of my reputation as an intelligent and responsible person, I´m going to pass on further details, and just leave you with these essential tips:
1. Aguardiente tastes better with Sprite.
2. Rhyming games are hard if it´s not your native language.
3. Learn to love reggaeton. It may not be good, but it´s the least bad option.
And now today is my last day in Colombia. Tomorrow I fly to Bogota, and then to Quito to meet Will...more updates when I get there!
We were hiking in Tilden Park on a brilliantly sunny day and chatting casually about our lives over the past few years. I think it was Nadia who posed the initial question. "I´m so happy with my life right now," she said. "But a few months ago, I was so unhappy. What has changed?" The dialogue that ensued would have made my college philosophy professors proud, and culminated in the following description of the Three Spheres of Happiness.
The first sphere is self-reflection. This sphere may not seem to be related to happiness at first, because you may not always feel happy while engaging in solitary, reflective types of activities, but the sense of order you develop lays an essential foundation upon which the other spheres rest.
The second sphere is quality time with people you love, and the third is pure, simple fun. The secret, we discovered, is that everyone has to find their own balance between the spheres. Some people might need to devote more time, for example, to sphere one activities in order to feel an overall sense of happiness than others. At some points during our lives, we might feel like we need to expend more time and energy on sphere three than at other points. But all three have to exist, in whatever balance works best.
Which brings me to my weekend.
Bek and Priya wouldn´t know what I meant if I said this, but we have devoted the past few days to replenishing our third sphere. By which I mean, drinking and dancing with the Israeli boys from our hostel. There has been a definite lack of cultural activity, unless you count repeated visits to Colombian discoteques and repeated sampling of the local drink, Aguardiente. For the sake of my reputation as an intelligent and responsible person, I´m going to pass on further details, and just leave you with these essential tips:
1. Aguardiente tastes better with Sprite.
2. Rhyming games are hard if it´s not your native language.
3. Learn to love reggaeton. It may not be good, but it´s the least bad option.
And now today is my last day in Colombia. Tomorrow I fly to Bogota, and then to Quito to meet Will...more updates when I get there!
posted by Will and Katy @ 10:31 AM
1 Comments:
At 12:04 AM,
Anonymous said…
Well summarized, Katymae! I have to tell you that without you, satisfying my sphere 2 requirements has been difficult, the lack being meaningful and revelatory conversations. Luckily, sphere 2 can happen on email as well, although that can seem more like sphere 1.
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