Golden Days of Happiness

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It’s gold outside, everything is covered in gold, as fall enters its last phase. I finally had the chance to take it all in today as James and I drove through the valley for breakfast and took a back road home to really enjoy the golden meltdown. Now I am all curled up in the couch trying to ignore the TV’s signal disturbance as strong winds mess with it and shutting the windows as smoke from a fire somewhere has blown into town.

 So, something that I have repeatedly discussed with people is the question of what it means to be happy. I know I have mentioned it before but since it’s been a while and it was with a different discussion in mind I will return to it today. A couple of years ago there were a global survey of happiness that found that Danes are the happiest people in the world. Americans were found to be seriously unhappy in comparison. So people ask me, why are Danes so happy? And I wonder, are we really so happy – and happier than everyone else? First of all, when you ask a Dane if she (or he) is happy, the rationale would be to think: well, I am not dying, I have a good job/study, I have friends and food on the table, so yes I guess yeah, I’m happy. While if you ask a French person – and I did, she would instantly name the first 7 things that were wrong in her life, even if they weren’t really that bad (speaking from a Danish perspective). It is true that Denmark has a highly functional social system with free education, free health care – you don’t have to worry if you get sick as a Dane, you will be taken care of. There is very good public transportation and bike paths everywhere so it is easy to get around. And most Danes, equally distributed between men and women, have an average income. In Alaska there is no safety net if you get sick – only a dysfunctional health insurance and medical system that will help you if pressured into it and only provide bare necessities. Many people live for far less than an average income and that, in an environment that is much harsher than the Danish. So why, am I, a Dane, in Alaska and not in Happy Denmark? For me, the Danish mentality can be extremely rigid. There is a right way to live and act and develop, and there is all the other ways – which are mostly frowned upon. Danes are a very homogenous people and as a result it is very noticeable when someone choose to do something outside the Danish norms and it is very often questioned. In comparison you can be as weird as you want and you will still fit right in in Alaska. The downside here is that I have to search to find people who see the world from the same perspectives as me, which is immensely important to my sanity. In Alaska, standards are where you set them and you, only you, can be held responsible for any pressure on your shoulders. This results in extremely ambitious people and extremely laid-back or unambitious people. I land somewhere between Danish and ambitious and is usually in extreme need of the laid-back to calm me down. So the ideal, I guess, would be some more Danes in Alaska. Take the Danes out of the homogeneity and they are incredibly resourceful people, who just happen to get caught up in them and theirs sometimes. Put the ambitious Alaskans in a Danish context and they will think they have gone to communist crazy town, while the laid-back seem to have a calming effect. And as for the happiness? Different cultures have different values that they use to measure their happiness and general well-being. To do a global happiness survey is difficult if not just silly in the first place. Happy people are to be found all over :)