Priya+Mansukhani+RP+Post+1

I. I'm leaning towards a combination of a extended definition and and informative explanation type of paper. My topic revolves around the characteristics of happiness, specifically its fragility, its transience; how short-lived it is. An extended definition paper would really allow me to draw out the different aspects of happiness that contribute to its fragility- I would be able to define happiness by looking at it through a specific lens and explore what it means through that lens, a special definition of some sort. However, an informative explanation paper would also allow me to explain myself, my research, my ideas and personal experiences with fragile happiness rather than just defining what it is, it would inform the readers more about the concept. A combination of both seems to fit my thoughts and would most help me achieve my goal in my writing.

II. __- How is happiness so fragile and short-lived?__ -What are the factors that contribute to its transience? Why is it so?

III. Happiness is something that all of us have experienced some point in our lives. But, from my experiences in life, and observations of what goes on around in this world, is that happiness does not always last. It is an emotion, so pure, and beautiful, yet it does not stay forever. It comes, and before you know it, it goes. The beauty of happiness is how fragile it is- anything at any moment can break it. It can shatter within a split second by sadness, anger, frustration, anything. I think that's what makes it so special and so hard to obtain purely. No one can ever be happiness constantly because life has continuous struggles that obstruct a maintained level of happiness in anyone's life. Happiness is harder to obtain and maintain than it is to lose. It is fragile and even destructive- like a contradictory statement. That when you have it, it is amazing, but when it's lost, the loss is the greatest felt. How fragility affects us is what I need to learn more about- how it's characteristics in that sense through that lens, make us who we are and alter our reactions to various situations and obstacles in life.

IV. What interests me most about happiness is its simplicity and complexity. Simple in the sense that it is so pure and light when any person feels it. It's effects are simple- the person with happiness is unstoppable, floating, on cloud 9, on a high. Yet complex in the sense that despite its purity, it is so so hard to maintain. Why does it not last long? What come in between? Life. Life constantly bombards us with pain and sorrow and tragedy that interferes with our happiness. It may last for a few seconds, or maybe a few years, but never constantly. I've experienced it myself. How I have tried to be happy without anything disturbing it, yet something always disrupts it, always. And that is what makes it so fragile and beautiful. When you are happy, you must embrace it. Moments of pure happiness do not come by often in life, and based on how fragile it is, it can be gone within a blink of an eye. I wanted to explore happiness, what causes it, what makes is so beautiful and fragile, and how that changes us as people. How that affects our choices in life and how that contributes to what life is made of. It's a paradox- happiness makes you and breaks you at the same time.