The Sunshine Makers: Can You Be Too Happy?

Last Christmas, my father gave me a page-a-day calender with links to offbeat web sites. A recent one shared the link to a 1935 cartoon sponsored by Borden, The Sunshine Makers. This vintage example of product placement raises an interesting question: Is it okay to be sad?

The Sunshine Makers features a group of happy singing gnomes, who turn the sun's rays into a milk-like liquid, which they bottle for delivery.

A group of grumpy singing gnomes attempts to stop delivery. War breaks out, and liquid sunshine fallout turns a swamp into a fountain, revitalizes a barren tree, and turns a sickly crow into--well, I'm not sure, but my guess would be an undiscovered species from the Amazon.

The cheerful gnomes invade the gloomy gnomes' village, and either dunk or force-feed the product until they're literally glowing. They sing and dance about how they'll "never again be sad".

Sometimes, It's Okay to Be Sad

Some people--myself among them--feel some empathy for the gloomy gnomes. While I'm not the "we're happy when we're sad" type, I don't have an irrational fear of feeling anything other than happy. I recognize--unlike the happy gnomes--that sometimes it's okay to be sad.

This is not a sentiment everyone shares.

In 2002, my Grandma Oberg died. I had a psychiatrist's appointment that I couldn't reschedule the day after the funeral. I left shortly after the burial, drove six hours through the night back to Indianapolis, arrived around 1 a.m., and went to the morning appointment after a few hours sleep.

"You look depressed," said my then-psychiatrist after hearing my story. "I'm going to increase your medicine."

"My grandmother just died," I snapped. "I'm in mourning! I'm supposed to look sad! If you're going to increase my medication so I don't feel sad at a time I need to, then this is just legal substance abuse!"

She was so surprised by my forcefulness that she simply stared at me and quietly said "Okay."

I'll say it again--I don't enjoy being sad. As a person with borderline personality disorder (BPD), I realize that I need to be careful about letting my emotions affect my behavior. However, I also realize that emotions themselves are neither good nor bad. It is what I do with how I feel that matters.

Dissatisfaction, for example, can inspire different actions. Let's say Joe Sixpack is not satisfied with his winter coat, and finances are tight. Joe has several options. He could steal a new coat. He could steal money and buy one. He could budget his money carefully and save up for one. He could do nothing and just hope somehow a new coat appears.

Same emotion. Different actions. Different consequences. The choice of action, not the emotion, determines the outcome.

Emotions simply exist, independent of "good" or "bad". It is just as okay to feel happy as it is to feel sad.