What Happiness Means to Others
By
Alicia Clarke
HU 300_ Art and Humanities: 20th Century and Beyond
Kaplan University

Defining Happiness:
First Interview with Jack Rasmussen on October 13, 2013.
The first interview session will be held with Jack Rasmussen, my nephew, who lives in San Francisco, California with my older sister and her husband. Jack is 10-years-old and attends Live Oak School which is a private elementary school in San Francisco, California. Jack has lived in San Francisco, California his entire life. Jack’s parents are happily married and both work outside the home. His mother works as Vice President of Events at Bank of the West and his father is a self-employed dog walker. Jack enjoys swimming, karate, and playing outside. His dream job when he grows up is to build and own a hands-on museum for kids to play in, like the one he went to when he visited his grandparents in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
1. Question: Jack, could you give me your personal definition of Happiness? Response: Happiness is when your face is filled with joy and you can’t stop smiling.
2. Question: Did anything in particular help influence your definition, such as a personal experience, an observation, friendship, media event or other source? Response: Every time I see my best friend Aaron I feel happy because I know we are going to have a great time no matter what we do.
3. Question: When was the first time that you can remember being happy? Response: When I got my ITouch for my 9th birthday.
4. Question: Do you think your view on Happiness has changed over your lifetime; and do you expect it to change further? Response: No it hasn’t changed and I don’t think it will because I have a good perspective.
5. Question: What purpose does Happiness serve? Response: To make you feel uncontrollably joyful.
5a. Question: What exactly do you mean by “uncontrollably joyful”? Response: I mean that you can’t stop smiling and you have the goofiest look on your face.
6. Question: Jack, do you believe happiness is achievable for others; and if not, what advice could you share to assist her or him in reaching this state? Response: Yes, of course I do because everyone will find happiness.
7. Question: Is meditation important in achieving Happiness? Response: No, it’s just for calming yourself down not to make you happy, duh.
8. Question: What gives you the most Happiness? Response: My parents. Because they are hilarious and let me be myself.
9. Question: What do you think would bring Happiness to individuals who are living in third world countries? A third world country is a place like Africa, where many people don’t have clean water, shelter, or much food. Response: If they had clean water and a clean nice home and a happy family.
10. Question: Nirvana is the Buddhist term for the highest state of Happiness possible, akin to the Hindu concept of Moksha. (Janaro and Altshuler, 2012). Do you think it is possible to achieve this plane or state of Happiness? Or ultimate happiness? Response: Yes.
10a. How? Response: By sticking to your dreams and your goals and achieving the best thing possible which for me would be owning my own museum and making millions of dollars.
11. Question: If dictionaries were to become pictorial rather than textual, what would you take a photograph of to represent the word happiness? Response: A rainbow over me wearing my orange sunglasses dancing to country music.

Second Interview with Utoomporn Ernest on October 13, 2013.
This interview was conducted with Utoomporn Ernest, who is my next door neighbor in Healdsburg, CA. I asked Mrs. Ernest to tell me a little bit about herself. I learned that Mrs. Ernest is 68-years-old and is married to her second husband who is a retired doctor and has five children who are all grown-up and married. She was raised in Cheng-Mai, Thailand and is one of eight children. Her parents