Temporum Felicitas II

A quick sequel to my previous posting.

In response to Temporum Felicitas, a Latin phrase which means 'happiness of the times', Moulika sent a message, which ignited my thoughts to write further on this topic. It is a plain inquiry into the pursuit of ‘happiness’, a word otherwise commonly used with the word ‘Paradise’. Perhaps this is due to the basic reason that the sense of these two words is not different in context. The idea and the substance of the circumstances are derived from simple, yet valuable impressions like the subtleties of human nature- compassion, love and tenderness. In this regard, let me take an inscription from Bertrand Russell’s treatise “ The Conquest of Happiness” (1930), he says:

“……….we modern people are open to the following addictive cycle: satiation leading to boredom leading to easy but superficial titillation leading back to satiation. Nothing in this cycle leads to real happiness, but it is difficult to break out of.”

Further in his “Autobiography”, he writes:

“ When you tell people that happiness is a simple matter, they get annoyed with you”.

It is a simple but an interesting insight. Let me share in brief the text of the message sent by Moulika.

“Paradise…. What does this word mean? I asked myself. Does this mean heaven, place you love, where your family is, where your friends are, a hill station…I went on defining and finally decided on ‘Paradise is Where I Live’….”.

For more read her blog ‘Butterflies’