“That was the best day by far!” exclaimed my 9-year-old. The first thing my daughters and wife mentioned was the day spent volunteering. Research and my family agree! Weeks after we were back in Oregon, we sat down at dinner and shared the things we had enjoyed most about Kauai. Meaning lasts in a satisfying way.Īnd this is not just my opinion. But even better than that hedonic pleasure was the meaningful satisfaction of making a positive difference. Sipping a Mai Tai while watching a sunset after snorkeling feels great, and I’d recommend it to anyone fortunate enough to travel somewhere tropical. Photo of Kauai by Alastair Lang …But meaning is even better My family - including my 5- and 9-year-old daughters - joined a small crew, and we helped get hundreds of weeds out and hundreds of native plants in. We arranged to join them for a day of pulling invasive weeds and planting rare native plants. This wonderful group strives to protect Kauai’s native plants and biodiversity. With this in mind, before our vacation, I researched volunteering on Kauai and found the Kokee Resource Conservation Program. One simple way of contrasting hedonism and eudaimonia is that eating ice cream brings hedonic pleasure, while giving someone else ice cream contributes to eudaimonia. It’s a Greek word that essentially means well-being and flourishing - a good life filled with meaning. We need engagement and meaning in our lives to be truly satisfied and happy.Įnter eudaimonia. While there’s nothing wrong with pleasure, by itself it’s not enough for a good life. We can end up on what’s called a “hedonic treadmill,” where we’re constantly chasing the next pleasure, never truly satisfied. Thus, if we can control the emotions produced by our brain, regardless.
More succinctly, he claims that happiness and pleasure are the interpretations of the brain to our exterior stimuli. According to Matthieu Ricard, a former biochemist and now a Tibetan monk, happiness is solely dependent upon ourselves. However, a pleasant life with little meaning can feel empty. Hedonistic Happiness from a Tibetan Monk. Scientific research demonstrates that there’s nothing necessarily wrong with pleasure. The trip was filled with wonderful hedonistic delights, including (but not limited to): swimming in warm water, gazing at lovely waterfalls, sipping cocktails, and eating delicious seafood and shaved ice. This summer, my family had an opportunity to use the frequent flier miles I earned traveling around the world to deliver workshops and keynotes, and we visited the Hawaiian island of Kauai. What is eudaimonia, and why is it better than hedonism? Allow me to explain by describing a recent trip to Kauai. Eudaimonia can be the difference between a fleeting good time and a lasting sense of fulfillment.
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