Be a Shaman-- Using the Portals
One of the co-founders of AI Happiness Accelerator, Amy Chang, used to travel to remote corners of the earth visiting First Nations peoples and neolithic tribes. She liked to meet with Shamans, chiefs, griots, and Elders to imbibe their wisdom.
Often the Shaman, or whatever name they used, would be the person who presides at funerals, conducts weddings, attends births, mediates disputes, negotiates with other tribes, and deals with emergencies.
Amy used to ask one question of these wise elders, including the Balanta people of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, the Yanomami of the Amazon, and the Asaro Mudmen of Papua New Guniea: "What makes you happy?" In their different ways, at least three of the Shamans answered something like this: "When you spend every day assisting with either marriages, births, or deaths, you are in close communion with every stage of human life. You don't ask for, or need, additional things to create meaning, purpose, or increase contentment. When you see a new mother hold her newborn infant for the first time, you don't ask about or wonder how to seek happiness."
You probably can not be a Shaman today, but you can use modern technology to achieve something similar to what these wise ones talked about. This is something we have experienced regularly over the last few years.
Consider: when you continuously find new ways to experience and express gratitude, and have methods to share them with others on a regular basis, your life is transformed.
When you have a myriad of ways to evoke awe and wonderment, and once again to share with others continually, your world changes for the better.
The same applies to brainstorming, curiosity, swarm intelligence, storytelling, laughter, and the Hero's Journey. Get healthy doses of these every week, or even every day, and you will stop seeking for meaning, purpose, or joy, because you already ARE these things.
