Musings about Joy

A friend, in a mood i could not percept as serious or in jest, asked me whether induced happiness had equivalent value as happiness, the former which was defined as "being forced to be happy". Who can genuinely tease the two apart experientially? Perhaps the welcoming of the new year brings in an auspicious tide for philosophical speculation. I venture to say that despite the appearance of incongruence between the two, all our experiences and feelings must stem from some antecedent, a natural consequence of living in this causal universe. Indeed the illusion of free will is the most venomous facade we shall ever know. When experiencing "true happiness" without appearing to be "forced", surely we can trace the origin of this emotion back to some previous episode, be it heralded in consciousness or not. What if happiness apparently arose from the self? In this case the aforementioned antedecent might be more concealed, but ultimately it must still spring from that vast potential we have accumulated, us miserable infants of a sociocultural gestalt too enormous to comprehend. Furthermore, let us not fall prey to that vicious illusion of the Self! It seems that the key to "happiness", then, is to isolate the moment of felicity from all surrounding contexts, slashing the cords of causality with that sword glimmering beneath the light of our determination and impetus to Joy and Liberty. Or, if you like, to find a renewed sense of existence in the ever "present" moment!