The Pursuit Of Happiness

Today I finally bought my much loved Indonesian magazine, Tempo, which I habitually buy every week back then in Jakarta. Happily, there was this stall in Ampang that had Tempo...if only I knew earlier that they had Tempo here in Malaysia...hhmm...
interesting...missed it for sure.

And here I am...again...back in the old day’s frame of mind of when I always get this striking feeling of empathy every time I read this magazine....

Tempo, is just a special magazine for me. I think, they have one of the finest journalists and editors up there. They really talk a lot about what’s happening around Indonesia, but in such different perspective. Their words are deep, very momentous. I love the “Catatan Pinggir” column, which is some ‘notes of life’ on Indonesia coming from different authors every week. This week’s is one of the best I must say.

It was given the title of “Mall”. Mall anyone? Seriously, the words of Goenawan Mohamad truly got me. He exposed about the life of shoppers, on how malls became a lifestyle, being a shopping paradise and a go-around place in which people end up carrying loads of new items and slurping coffees with twitters of sugary chuckles till morning. Ooohh, how much happier can life be?

Shopping...lifestyle...even though I am somehow a part of it....but I do hate it in a way...it limits your reason of being in this world...

Hmm...economy grows because of humans’ obsession to have a better life. But remember what Will Smith said in his movie? It’s just a pursuit of happiness. There’s never an end to it, coz the standards will level up each and every day. For the loaded, having a better life may be defined as having an exclusive dinner in a Gucci suit, and yes, having wine and smoking the best cigars in the end. One thing; it is their definition today, not tomorrow. When they become ill the very next day, they don't care about their Baby Benz, all they want is another "better life"; a better health.

Perhaps people have to be in heaven, where all their needs and wants and wildest dreams are satisfied (they say). In that case, obsessions and passion will no longer exist. Or maybe, they become irrelevant. Then we will finally realize, that obsessions are just the same as language; they construct the reality of your world. They become our definition, being the wrongfully guide for every step we take. And yet in the end we'll realize that they are just words, words of what we label as a better life.

This world, is a dictionary. Perhaps it is time for us to learn more definitions, A to Z. Then we’ll understand the real happiness.