Category Archives: Happiness Archive

My happy place :)

Posted on by
Reply

This was hard. To choose one happy place that I have out of all the places that make me happy. But if I had to choose one it would have to be … Times square. Before you say how can times square be your happy place? It’s so loud etc. But a happy place isn’t just somewhere quiet or peaceful it’s just a place that makes you happy. Times square makes me happy. The bright lights and all the people crowded together walking through the streets. The yellow cabs passing through the streets. This is what new York city is about. Times sqaute brings me back to my child hood. Going to the city with my family and we would always go to times square only at night. That’s when the city really came alive. Overall i love the excitement Times Square brings. Sometimes seems overwhelming becuase their is so many things to do. But I love it. The lights flashing and the bright billboards everywhere you look!

Happy Happy Happy Apps!

Posted on by
Reply

So as I looked through all of these apps I saw a common trend which started to be tracking people’s happiness. For most of the apps it tries to see how happy you are the mood you’re in what kind of people surround you and etc in order to obtain statistics on people. They want to see the kind of things that make people happy to than see how they can help. But each app wants to find ways in which they help people become happier for their everyday life. I liked that each app lets you know how happy you might be and tracks everything for you so you can know how happy healthy you might be or just plain happy. They want to help you keep on track with your happiness so they send you alerts when to add your mood and etc.

For instance an app I downloaded to try the “Happify” one started off asking so many questions from your age? to do you think you’re in a serious relationship? or are you a picasso or accountant kind of person? they ask all these questions to know how you feel about yourself and what you think about happy. When you signup than you can do different task. Like one I chose where you stop comparing yourself to others than you might pick an activity i chose one and they showed me three different tasks. The first was Not That Into You the second Love What You Have and the third You Decide How! So I went to choose Love What You Have. This task would help me combat negative bias, reduce feelings of sadness or hopelessness and feel better about life. So far from just looking at this app and the kind of task they might have you do or what the activity will help you get through it seems like they really want to help your life be more happy and healthy.

They want to focus on how each person can become healthier with their lifestyle choice and through each app like the “Headspace” which tries to meditate with you you can have a healthier mind. I like each app finds ways they can help with each person. They’ll give activities that can help the mind they might soothe you with music or pictures they all want to know what really makes people happy. These apps want you to track your happiness and learn how you can change the way you think and your attitude such as the “Live Happy” these apps want you too change for the better.

I downloaded that app that I mentioned because I do want to see how this can affect my happiness or actually do make me happier. I am the kind of person to get mad easily I can be disrespectful or catch attitude. My mother has always said I’ve been like that to since little and I do want to change that. It doesn’t look good in a young girl to act like that anyways. I want to change and have a positive attitude always or find ways to forget things and not get mad.

My Happiest Place in NYC

Posted on by
Reply

My happiest place in New York is my new apartment. Growing up my family and I lived in a real tight small studio and I shared a room with my brother and sister. If you were to walk in to the old apartment it was pow the living room the dinning table, move right it was our room then my parents room then walk up and the kitchen was there. So it was really small for 5 people. Growing up and seeing the struggle my goal in life is to give my parents everything and knowing that they struggled really has pushed me. In August I signed a lease and moved my family into a two bedroom apartment.

Being able to have space makes me more comfortable even though being in a tight space made us close. This new apartment is everything to me i’m working and going to school and helping out with bills. When I walk into my apartment i just feel a sigh of relief and a peaceful and calm environment. I can do whatever I want here and not worry about bothering somebody or being in their space. I know people always say they can’t wait to get home from a long day but I honestly really mean that. Seeing how happy my family is makes me happy and it really warms my heart because I know that the new apartment may be their happiest place in new york too. This reminds me of the discussion about how sharing experiences with people can make you happy because thats what really happened in my situation.The new apartment just shows how a family is united and it honestly just shows how everything is peaceful and everyones different personalities.

My happiest place in new york is my apartment, everything in here makes me happy and knowing I did something not only for myself but for my family makes it even more special and knowing that new and better experiences are going to be made is bittersweet to me.

My favorite place in NYC

Posted on by
Reply

Like most New Yorkers choosing only one place to call my favorite is extremely difficult. I’m the type of person who loves to visit new places and try new things. While exploring the city I’ve found some pretty interesting places to hang out and eat at. Places like Lula’s Sweet Apothecary where they have the best vegan ice cream ever! and just a few blocks away a pretty unusual burst of nature is located between two building the 6BC Botanical Garden. Even though on my many adventures through the city I’ve found amazing places like this if I really have to choose only one it would probably have to be my kitchen at home. Although I don’t currently have my dream kitchen I work pretty well with what have. While I’m in there I’m able to clear my mind and focus on my baking. Most of the time its a place where I like to be by myself but its also a place where I’m able to spend time with my family but most of all my two nieces.

Even as a child I would spend most of my time in the kitchen with my mother since she  was usually in there. I was inseparable from my mother so as she cooked I was right there next to her insisting on helping. As I got older I was actually able to help her in making edible food unlike what I use to make believe was food. In our family like most families holidays were extremely important but most of all so was the food served. we would have the menu planned out for weeks in advanced and would always assign everyone a task. My usual task would be something small like mash potatoes or the veggies. But now I’ve moved on to bigger tasks like helping prep the turkey before thanksgiving or making tamales on Christmas eve.

Now that I’m older I’m in charge of dinner most nights if I’m not working. Which I don’t completely mind. But for the most part when I have some free time I like to bake a lot. I start of with one simple thing and end up making/prepping three other things. For the most part I bake for and with my nieces. My oldest niece is now six years old and is in first grade so she often like to bring in treats for her class on holidays. So the same way I was always clinging onto my mother she does the same thing by following me around and tries to help me. I enjoy the time I get to spend with her and its amazing to see how much she learns and is able to do things that takes a lot of people a long time to master.

Out of all the wonderful places in New York City my kitchen is defiantly my favorite its a place where I can bond with my family and clear my mind. While I’m in there I can relax and focus on the task at hand. I can also create thing that people enjoy and put a smile on their faces. Its more of a safe haven for me and is only a few feet away from my room which is my second favorite place.

My own world from inside of my bedroom

Posted on by
3

I’ve never really thought about what my happiest place could be but if I had to choose and what I could think of it would be my bedroom. My room is the type that is very cozy and a normal sized room not too big and not too small. When I thought about what could be my happiest place I automatically thought my room because it is a place where I can think about anything. I can act a certain way and be really loud put music up or watch whatever I want.

Sorry for the mess but as you can see around the room.

Sorry for the mess but as you can see around the room.

 

When I need to cry it is a place where I can do that because it’s my room. I can lock my door if I don’t want anyone to bother me. I have my own privacy to do as I please to change with no one around or sleep naked if I wanted to. I can do as I please in my room because it is mine and my place of relaxation. There is no bed more comfortable than mine I feel. I love to just through things around if I want or anything.

Just another one of something on the wall. Being decorative ha!

Just another one of something on the wall. Being decorative ha!

This is my happy place because I can be by myself put things around my room that I might like that could make me happy. It’s just a place that I know is mine and will always make me happy. Before when I was younger I had to share a room with my brother because my grandmother lived with us when I was getting older I always wanted my own room already to have my privacy and etc. After I’ve gotten my own room it is the best. It makes me happy because it’s just a place where I can do me without no one seeing just for me.

Apps help but not really.

Posted on by
Reply

My thoughts about these happiness apps are a little diverse. In one side I think they are might be good to collect data such as a person’s location where they live, their gender, ethnicity etc. and see how that affects their wellbeing. Meaning, if they have economic stability, enough resources provided by the government and so on. However, I also think that the apps are not enough for a person to reach happiness. Yes, it gives some tips of what can be done to feel better at the moment. Although, it doesn’t give you exact processes that would help you solve the problems that may be affecting your happiness. Here are some thoughts about some of the apps:

“Track your happiness” is the app that makes you take a survey at the beginning asking you about general information about yourself, like gender, ethnicity, age etc. then this app sends you surveys to your email where at the beginning of the day, the middle and at night. In each of these surveys there are about 15 questions that ask you what you are doing, how do you feel, etc. At the end of each survey this app collects the data and graphs it in correlation with your happiness and activities accordingly. I think this app is not so helpful to improve a person’s happiness but more like to collect information of how people’s happiness is affected by their environment and daily activities.

“Happy habits” is an app that you can download to your phone and this app contains a series of activities that you can do to increase your level of happiness at the moment. I first took the survey with 119 questions, which at the end gave me a detailed summary of what are my characteristics as a person and how i could improve in them to be happy. The summary about the characteristics measured them from low, average and high. The characteristics measured were: optimism, illness susceptibility, locus of control, compassion, trusting of others, affiliation, pleasantness, emotional stability, conscientiousness, assertiveness, self-confidence, gratefulness, approval seeking, and playfulness. Mines ended up being sort of accurate I would say, and the advice that they give is realistic. Asides from the test this app contains information that educates people about cognitive psychology, which is the approach the application takes. Moreover, they have meditation techniques and activities that are in fact relaxing and help improve happiness. I have tried meditation before and I can say that after it I would always end up relaxed and feeling fresh in mind and body.

Emotion sense app claimed that they were going to collect data from my phone including my location, texts, calls and more. When I read this, I immediately went back and did not agree to the terms and conditions. I already don’t trust facebook and some other websites that have my private information. I obviously wouldn’t like another app to get this private information from me. I would feel very uncomfortable with someone reading my messages or spying on my calls. Not that I have anything bad or embarrassing to hide but I just like the fact that I can keep some things to myself.

My Happy Place: Central Park

Posted on by
Reply

Out of the many places I have visited in New York my favorite place that brings me happiness is Central Park. Central Park is a calm place full of nature located right in the center of the chaotic city of Manhattan. I have lived in New York for about 15 years and I still have not visited all of central park because it is huge. My goal is to someday finally say that I have been all around central park.

In my opinion Central Park is one of the most beautiful places in New York City. It is gorgeous year around, it is always perfect to go to central park. In the summer anyone could go take a walk, ride bikes, roller blade, claim rocks or even just sit down on top of the huge rocks overlooking at the skyscrapers enjoying a picnic. In the fall the leaves start to change colors and start to fall down. Taking a walk down the park hearing the crunching noise of the leaves on the ground while looking over the trees made up of all the different shades of red. In the in the winter the tress get covered with snow. It seems as if you were walking down a winter wonderland. I love watching people playing with the snow such as snow ball fighting, making snowmen, or making snow angles. In the spring flowers start to bloom and trees come back to life. Central park started to bloom back to life with delicate pastel colors such as lavender, pinks, yellows, and greens. It doesn’t matter what season of the year it is I will always love to visit Central Park because of the beautiful view of nature and the tranquility it transmits to me.

Not only does it look beautiful but it also has a lot of sentimental values. Ever since I could remember my parents used to take me and my siblings to Central Park on their days off. My siblings and I used to run around playing tag in the play grounds, racing up the rocks, committing on who learned how to ride a bike faster. I also remember going to the zoo and feeding the animals. After a long week of parents working we took a day off to go relax and spend time together sitting in the grass with snacks enjoying the beautiful weather. Once we got a dog we used to go take him for walks and try to teach him how to play fetch but he never learned.

As time passed we all grew up and stopped going to Central Park as frequently as we used to. Still to this day I love going to Central Park on my free time because it brings back childhood memories. I also love going to just take a break from all the chaos in my life and just sit down and enjoy nature. In the winter I also go to the ice skating rank with friends. Central Park is a place that makes me happy because there is endless things to do. It is also a place that has a lot of sentimental value.

central park spring central park summer fall central parkwinter-central-park-background-image-free-central-park-hd-wallpapers

Happiness Apps

Posted on by
Reply

Happiness has been an ongoing topic, constant promotions, tracking individuals happiness. Websites and apps have been created in order to improve/ helps ones happiness and show the ideal path to happiness.

Most of the apps were a bit boring and not interesting at all as i clicked on each one and downloaded i felt as if it was a waste most of the apps only asked a series of questions. In my opinion the app “Happify” is the most efficient app in achieving happiness. After downloading happify it instantly tells you how to find the right track for you, complete track activities and games on the go. It also asks a series of questions to get to know you after you finish, it sets up a track that best fits you, and how it will benefit you. Happify helps with positive thinking , it sets goals and allows you to achieve them. With these games  and activities it can help achieve happiness one day at a time.

I used to believe there was something wrong with tracking individuals happiness but i now see that it can be very beneficial. I thought that completing survey’s weren’t as affective but completely these survey’s honestly can help you towards becoming more happy.i

My happy place in NYC

Posted on by
Reply

So after much thought I would have to say My happiest place in New York City is …

the # 2 school . I know that’s a weird name for a school but that’s the name of it . I didnt actually go to the school but my parents , aunts and uncles would take my cousins and I there to play in the playground that was there . Its my happy place because of the memories that I have of the playground . The memories of my family , sometimes I would look at the pictures and see my brother and I sitting on the slides holding hands smiling for the camera . Every time I think about the school it brings all that back in my mind and I cant help but smile because there years I cant ever go back to but their years I will always cherish forever .

hAPPiness Tracking and Promoting

Posted on by
Reply

In Flow and GPS 4 The Soul are some interesting apps that has the same purposes. It’s purpose to track happiness and promote it. How does it work(?), one might ask. Does it work(?) or is it all a scam for your money(?) At first I was wasn’t really surprise about all these tracking and promoting happiness apps. There are millions of apps being developed right now as I am writing this blog.  I was however, annoyed when I first downloaded the apps. It’s basically ask me what I am doing and How I am feeling doing it. This is what most of the apps asked me to do. However I came across Happify. It is unlike the other apps. It better and much fun then just asking me questions.

In happily, It looks more developed and more efficient due to it having activities for us to do. One of the game, have us clicking on hot air balloons with positive words to make them go up and if we clicked a negative word, the balloon would go down. It’s quite a learning tool too. I played the game and as the level goes up, the words became outside my vocabulary. I learnt a feel positive words and also some negative words. Happify is free for it user, however for full access, a 15 dollars fee each month is required.

This tracking and promoting happiness reminds me about the first article we read for this class. I remember myself disagree with the fact that the government is trying to track people happiness , but agree that they trying to promote happiness however by picking sides. Since these apps are self-help apps that a user are willing to download it, I am fine with them tracking ones happiness.