Narrative Essay Sample: Mood Enhancement Through Media

I decided to try to enhance my mood by watching inspiring TED talk videos. I thought about how the media can impact me and make me feel sad, for example, comparing myself with others online or reading depressing news articles. I figured if the media had the power to make me sad then it definitely must be capable of making me happy. I know seeing good news via the media can induce my mood, however, you cannot control when and how much good news will be available and the good news is often covered over with bad because that is what more people find exciting for some bizarre reason. I often find myself at times trying to convince myself I'm worth it or I'll give myself pep talks before taking on the day to try to prepare myself for happiness. 

Typically, I am a pretty happy human, however, lately I have been down in the dumps struggling so much to keep up with life. I feel like everything is moving so quickly now and it hurts me because I don't feel ready to grow up. Seasonal depression has been hitting me hard as well. Some days it gets so bad to the point where I cant even leave my bed because I just feel like life is pointless. I want to train myself to get better. I need to take time and find out what causes my serotonin and how I can remain up to speed in life so I don't feel like the world is swallowing me up. This is why I chose to watch influencing videos via youtube. My goal with this assignment is to break a bad habit of letting life get the best of me. Whenever I feel my mood deteriorating I must find a solution that I know will work to boost my mood back to where it should be. I often find that knowing other people are suffering or have suffered from overwhelming amounts of sadness makes myself feel less alone. I would never wish sadness upon a soul but to know that someone is going through it and making it out as well gives me the confidence to get back up. I took a few hours out of my day to just simply focus on others stories and I felt myself immediately perking back up after.

 I started by searching for some talks that were meant to build your mood like, How To Be Happy by Jaqueline Way. She immediately mentions statistics about how many of us are facing a mental illness that affects our everyday lives. She next challenges the question of how do we avoid this fate? She then tells a relatable story about her childhood and how it plays a role in her life now. One of her main topics was the research of giving and why humans' natural healing remedy is to be giving. This lesson is something I never considered to be a huge role in my life. It gave me an idea to start finding ways to give everyday and pay attention to something to challenge myself. If I could make someone else's day better every day then I would essentially be forgiven. Jacqueline Way took on this challenge with her child and I hope to try it on my own. One of my favorite ideas that I got from this video is that I am capable of taking little treasures from the streets whether it's a towel and just garbage, i can clean it and give it to a rescue shelter and then that towel has purpose again. Everything should be treated as if it has purpose and then our purpose will surface. 

I next watched Michael Lieps, “How To Stay Happy When Life Is Punching You In The Face”. He starts this off by sharing a personal story about a disease he dealt with and how to handle this incredibly awful situation. He notices himself being immensely overwhelmed with life in general and felt he could no longer take the heat. He later was diagnosed with many multiple illnesses and over time his symptoms got worse as he was not treated. Michaels main goal was for the audience to understand how to stay happy. He challenged everyone with the 3 P’s method. Perspective is the first, which consists of focusing on yourself and finding the best solution to the situation. Next is Practice, which is key for almost everything we do in our life. Breaking habits and practicing good behavior is what will keep happiness at a medium level. Lastly, planning, this can be difficult for some people with mental blocks, however, it is how you create a manageable schedule to track your dopamine levels. Michael Liep gave me something specific to focus on and an actual map of how to get better instead of scattered ideas.

Lastly, I watched Bella Depaulos, “What no one ever told you about people who are single”. I decided to watch this one because it was more directed to something specific in my life that has been bothering me. I often feel forced to find a man or woman to fall in love with but I enjoy my own company more than anything yet everyone tells me how unhealthy that may be. That's why listening to Bella's story was influential for myself, I felt connected to her life, we share a similar story. The pressure in society to be in a relationship is so high because it is considered abnormal not to yet some people thrive more on their own. Bella Depaulo has been single her whole life and is almost 80 years old. She found happiness and now tries to share and give her stories out to build her own happiness and others. 

Watching these three influential videos on their own gave me so much more knowledge on how to achieve my goals and get back on my feet. I feel like they really  inspired me after as well, I wanted to start cleaning my room right after. Days after i fell out of the rhythm so I think it is something I definitely will have to keep up with or occasionally get back into if I fall out of place again. I think my main goal with this assignment was to find something that I could turn to via media that was positive and beneficial for myself rather than something that makes my brain deteriorate. The media is often filled with negativity but it also has a whole field of options for positively, I just had to pay attention and look.

Works Cited

YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ted+talk+on+how+to+be+happy.