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The Pandemic Has Recalibrated Our Happiness Threshold
To sustain your happiness, hold onto the shallowness
“EVERYONE, ANNOUNCEMENT”, my cousin messaged our family’s Facebook group. The breaking news? Jollibee, the holy grail of Filipino fast food, was opening a branch near her house in Canada. She added, “Sorry, I don’t have a lot going on.. so everything is exciting!”
Then recently, a friend tweeted a picture of himself sipping a cocktail, “I had my first indoor drink in a long while. It was so surreal.” I understood what he meant. It was the same bizarre happiness I felt when we ended up celebrating my mom’s 60th (60th!) birthday in my cramped 28-sqm apartment, with nothing but take-away and our usual Starbucks order.
There’s a common Filipino saying that captures this state of being easy to please. We say “mababaw ang kaligayahan”, and it directly translates to“shallow happiness”.
After more than a year of extreme restrictions, it seems that our threshold for happiness has gone down. We’re slowly regaining the experiences we’ve been deprived of — and we’re startled by them. You’re walking down the street and OMG! That cute, fluffy dog is to die for! Here comes your friend. Still got that awesome bestie handshake! Now, off to that corner cafe to chat over some over-priced coffee, which tastes…
