Nepal, Oct. 19 -- Most Nepali families are gathering for Dashain, the country's biggest festival, right now. Some are still coping with loss, searching for missing loved ones, or trying to rebuild after the Bhotekoshi disaster. For those celebrating from a place of relative safety, joy may come with an uncomfortable question: How can we enjoy our own happiness when others are living through unimaginable pain?

We may feel that celebrating makes us insensitive, or that enjoying the festival somehow diminishes the suffering of those who have lost loved ones, homes, or any certainty about what comes next. But does caring about another person's pain require us to feel guilty about our own happiness?

We need to distinguish between being happy...