So, here we are 13 days into 2017. The holiday decorations are stuffed back in the closet or boxed up and thrown down to the cellar and you have probably wished every possible person you’ve seen or talked with a “Happy New Year.”
Happy new year, indeed. Good riddance to 2016. Thinking back to 2016 reminds me of Woody Allen’s Alvy Singer character in “Annie Hall”: “Life can be divided into the horrible and miserable.”
What’s in store for us this year?
Next week, we’ll have a new president who promises to make America great again. He’s also someone who had this to say in 2001: “I never think in terms of being happy or sad. I just am what I am. I believe in the power of positive thinking, that you can convince yourself to be positive or you convince yourself to be happy … you have to do things that make you happy.”
Who knows what we’ll hear from our next president on Jan. 20 regarding our happiness.
Our third president, Thomas Jefferson, chief author of the Declaration of Independence, borrowed from various philosophers of his day, in coming up with the famous triad of inalienable rights: “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
By all measures, Jefferson himself was a pretty happy guy. In a 1788 letter, Jefferson gave his personal recipe for well-being: “It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation which give happiness.”
Historians since then have dissected and debated what Jefferson had in mind. Some say he took a theory of his own personal happiness and extended it to a vision for what our nation could achieve – a “pursuit” that could be extended to the community at large; that we could all strive for and could design a nation that enhances the happiness of all people.
Then there’s John F. Kennedy, our native son and 35th president, the first to be born in the 20th century. Fifty-six years ago, on Jan. 20, 1961, President Kennedy inspired an entire generation of baby-boomers with what is considered one of the greatest speeches in history and the now iconic line: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” His was a call to action for our nation to collectively move forward and for new national sacrifice and service – a New Frontier where anything was possible if we worked together.
But today, we’re in an era of animosity and distrust of all things government. We’re in a period of great cynicism spurred on by an unremitting torrent of bickering and conflict that’s amplified by cable news and made worse through trolls on social media who blast everything and anything.
Yeah, 2016 was a downer for many people, and I know that many of us have cause to despair for the coming year. But sometimes happiness needs to grow from tears.
Most everyone who knows me sees me as a positive person and eternal optimist but my family and closest of friends also know that I, like millions of other Americans, also suffer from bouts of great depression. I am not, in fact, happy all the time nor do I want to be.
Sometimes it’s healthy, and I’ll submit, even healthier to be depressed, angry, even agitated. I think our founding fathers would agree. The members of the Sons of Liberty, all rabble-rousers, had the courage to speak out and do what is right and fight for their community. They weren’t happy; they were angry.
On Jan. 21, more than 100,000 people, including a large group traveling on five buses from Northampton, will take part in the Women’s March on Washington to remind our nation that government is of, for and by the people.
Here in Happy Valley, we have an abundance of examples of how government and citizens can work together for the common good. We volunteer in spades and help those in need. We advocate for and support public education, the humanities and the creative arts. We write letters to the editor, we engage our elected officials and we protest when things aren’t right. We buy from local farmers and champion local businesses. We value a healthy and robust community newspaper and read and examine real news.
I know how Pollyanna-like this may all sound, but grassroots democracy works. I know the bigger world out there can be almost unbearably grim, that all the distractions and the noise from Washington can overwhelm our capacity for the kinds of happiness we need and value most.
But, I believe that happiness is something that must be pursued in a way that brings purpose to all of humanity and a brighter future for all of our planet’s children and their children. So let’s get going on that.
Happy New Year. Let’s make it a better one.
John Paradis, of Florence, is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who writes a column published the second Friday of the month. He is a veterans’ outreach coordinator for the VA New England Healthcare System.