The monkey heart and the search for happiness

There’s much talk about the monkey mind, but what about the monkey heart? or in other words the monkey like nature of emotion.

Which I suppose is what the current capitalist system feeds off of. This desire of ours to feel to experience, to feel intense emotion, to feel pleasure, delight. It’s where we get our kicks from: movies, food, social media, extreme sports, sex, and so. It seems a common trait amidst the 21st century human to be always searching for the next high, the next hit, constant excitement and stimulation.

We all want to feel good, but perhaps there’s a misunderstanding that feeling good will bring us happiness

Yet this feel good experience we’re all chasing we’re associating with instant gratification, instant stimulation of pleasure receptors.. yet once the experience is over what are we left with? We’ll be left with the satisfaction of the memory for a little while, but how long does that last?

This idea that we need something external to us to feel good. Most likely on a totally subconscious level. Or it might not be the case at all and I’m totally wrong, but check in with yourself and see is this true for you?
Not to say that wanting to experience pleasure, wanting to feel good is a bad thing. It’s a perfectly healthy thing, and a super enjoyable experience. I just believe it’s even healthier to check in with ones self to see what ones relationship is with this instant gratification system we have in place.

Is there a subconscious element in place that believes we need this pleasure stimulation in order to feel happy? That this short term high equates to happiness. Is there a subconscious part of you that’s often searching for the next temporary “high”?
Addiction itself is a funny thing as its often not what we’re addicted to that’s the cause of the problem, but rather the reason we’re addicted, what we’re trying to escape.
I guess that’s a point I’m making here.. are you relying on these instant gratification mechanisms for your happiness? Or is there happiness there with or without these experiences?

Which brings us to the question: what is happiness?
Rather than being this feel good feeling, I believe it’s a underlying tone to ones life experience. It’s something we can experience in moments of both negative and positive emotions. So rather than being this feeling of feel good, it’s a sense of ease with your experience, an attitude of allowing yourself to experience whatever it is you’re experiencing. For lack of a better word it’s this sense of contentment with being either “happy” or being sad.. It’s coming to this spaces of being at peace with who we are.
And it’s all over the place we’re all searching for it, and we’re being sold it left, right, and center. If we have the latest x, y, or z. THEN we will be happy.

Yet.. as long as we are looking for happiness outside of ourselves.. it’s never going to happen on that deep permanent basis. There will be moments, and they will be beautiful. Yet until we stop searching everywhere for what is already within us.. we will always be on this crazy vicious cycle of a puppy chasing it’s tale.. searching searching searching.. for what we think is outside of us, but is in fact part of us all along.
So what is the path to long lasting, life permeating happiness? Honestly, it doesn’t always feel great, yet it does allow one to live life at ease, and in the long run it allows the everyday moments to be more vivid, to be fully lived and experienced. Not only the highs and lows.

I’m sure there are many practices, many techniques. But whatever allows you to come more fully into to the present moment, into your experience. That allows you to be honest with yourself about your experiences; that invites you to become intimate with what is actually happening. Personally I’ve used mindfulness, yoga, breathing practices, meditation, immersing myself in nature, and taking time to DISCONNECT from the constant stimulation of technology.

And these are not quick fix solutions.. which we are so accustomed to.. these are practices, that take practicing over and over and over again.. and that as you’re practicing you wonder.. “why the FUCK am I doing this?!” yet with retrospect, months later, looking back, the change is evident, friends and family will notice.. something shifts.. we become more at ease with ourselves, with our experience. We reconnect with ourselves.
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But hey, that’s my experience and you don’t need to take my word for it, try it and see.. and feel free to share your story with me. All of our journeys are different, yet there are similarities, and personally I love to hear about it.
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