Unlike Costa Rica and Vietnam, the US was ranked 105 out of 151 countries on the 2015 Happy Planet Index. Despite "the pursuit of happiness" being written into the United States Declaration of Independence, the commonly individualistic endeavor of pursuing happiness in the US is based significantly on capitalism: “As contemporary American society has become increasingly obsessed with achieving happiness, this ‘transcendent good’ … has been commodified and marketed to eager consumers in various ways: innumerable how-to books and self-help materials, career consultants to maximize potential and satisfaction in the workplace, personality profiles to improve friendships, online dating sites to increase marital success, happiness questionnaires, uppers, downers, mood stabilizers, Disneyworld, Hollywood happy endings" (Belli 1).

Happiness as an Oppressive Phenomenon

Meanwhile, Sara Ahmed states, “happiness shapes what coheres as a world” and has been historically used, and is still continued, to “justify oppression” (Ahmed 2). The perceived notion that happiness promises a "good life" is a “promise that directs us toward certain life choices and away from others” (Ahmed n.p.). This has written, and to some extent still writes, this phenomenon into a concerning binary that recognizes that “happiness is promised to those willing to live their lives in the right way” (Ahmed n.p.), but not promised to those who live the "wrong way" (67).

After this section, I divide this memoir into three major subsequent sections—Family, School, and Future—to track how happiness is taught and experienced through one perspective of my family's multiple generations. Family is categorized into "Legacies of Learning - My Parents' Upbringing" and "Learning From Passions - Homeschooling." School consists of "High School," "Community College," and "Graduate Program." Lastly, "Future" points to how the conversation I've built can be expanded upon.

Methods of Research

The memoir includes clips from two interviews, one with my mom and one with my dad. I chose to interview each of them because of their direct influence on teaching me about happiness. Currently, they are each practicing psychologists in the Metro Detroit area. My mom specializes in working with teenage girls and couples; my dad's focus is counseling teenage boys and young men. My older sister, Gwen, is a character in the story, but was not interviewed because I wanted the focus to be on the lessons I learned instead of what she and I both learned—perhaps that will be another project. You will be introduced to Gwen as a child and teenager, but today she is the vice principal of a charter high school in Los Angeles. Alongside my main characters, I use quotes at the end of each major page to often a space for reflection—everyone learns a different pedagogy from their parents during their formative schooling years; mine is just one.