A couple of days ago, I read an article from Newsweek entitled, Happiness: Enough Already. A provocative headline to say the least, since we live in an era where extreme happiness has become a goal and for some a true obsession, to the point where many (psychologists included) seek to medicate away almost any form of sadness.
The article goes on to point out that though a small percentage of the population does fall into the category of the long-term clinically depressed (people who truly need medicative support in order to function above a subsistence level), many will experience bouts of depressive symptoms which do not require agressive treatment. In fact, the obsessively, extremely "happy" person has a tendency to become a less productive individual than those experiencing a more moderate level of happiness. A little bit of difficulty can provide the incentive needed to stive towards improvement and betterment.
All of this leads me to ask an open ended question to all of us in the funeral service world. We have found ourselves working more and more with the idea of "celebrations" instead of funerals. I wonder how much of this has come from the underlying expectations of the "happiness industry" and whether as the pendulum of cultural opinion swings more towards allowing for the balance of sadness in life, that the character of funeral services will begin to shift as well.
Such a shift will play out very gradually of course, but something to keep in mind as you may find families making more room for grief and solemnity once more. Comments?
Here's a link to one of the books mentioned in the article. Sounds a little technical but might help put a few things into perspective.
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