Monday 11 April 2011

Happiness Week :o).

As advertised, Happiness Week is now upon us (yay!) as Action for Happiness launch their nationwide (British) campaign to increase cheer and contentment. For those of you who live elsewhere, all of their ideas and research can be applied anywhere, so please still check out their website.

Each time I blog this week I shall endeavour to bring happiness to you all. 
Thinking about how I might do that, I have come to realise that I am always, in part, doing just that already. This is a way for me to have a voice in the wider world and it's important to me that my input is positive. Sometimes I discuss what's not working or what I'm struggling with (see Love in the Snow and The story of an imperfect artwork), but my hope is that in sharing the trickier parts of my journey, I can support and encourage you when you come to a stonier path. Even if you're not a writer, artist, mother or animist, we're all capable of drawing analogies and learning from each other. Why reinvent the wheel every time?

For happiness in sound form, here's a beautiful link from Thomas Hine of A Basket of Leaves, a truly fantastic blog in every sense.

Just now, as I was eating my lunch, I found a story that brought me happiness in the way I was just talking about. And the strangest thing is that I found it in the Daily Mail's online paper! Now, I don't read the Daily Mail because I get angry. If you're British, you'll get the gist of my politics from that. If you're from elsewhere (please send sun), you'll know of an equivalent in your country which is generally avoided by open-minded, inclusive folk. Either way, do watch this.

So here I have discovered a story of love, courage and wisdom where I expect to find the opposite of all those things. Read it for yourself here

With little time to spare before my working day is over, I have finished my current artwork:

Brush Pen Mosaic on Canvas
5" x 7"

Thank you to those who left helpful comments on  The Spice of Life. The existence of gazanias is a source of happiness for me, as is this mosaic, even though too much light came through the canvas on the scanner. Still working on my technological prowess...

I'll leave you with a story which genuinely made me cry with laughter. Thanks to Terri Windling because I found it on her multi-faceted blog. If you click one link today, make it this one.

What makes you happy? Would you share it with us? Tell us about it in the comments, or email me direct with a link and I'll include it (credited to you, of course) during the week.

15 comments:

  1. thanks for the link to the 'dogs moving house' post, that was the most brilliant thing I have read online in a long time, it certainly made me happy:-)
    much love
    martine

    ReplyDelete
  2. Morning Lunar (well, it's morning here)!
    Laughed my socks off (well I would if I was wearing any, dammit, where the heck is Autumn?!) at the Daily Mail song, I can think of a few newspapers here that fit the same bill. In my latest blog post I've got interesting article (from my local newspaper) about brain development and political views too.

    I read the 'dog moving story' a while back and it truly is laugh out loud, isn't it (especially if you have a scatty dog like ours)?!

    Your gazanias are beautiful, I think someone already mentioned it, but they would make a gorgeous fabric design!

    Altogether another wonderful blog post...keep them up. You definitely are spreading happiness!

    xx Christina

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hooray! Thank you Martine and Christina, my work is done :o).
    I'll check out your new post, Christina. And am not craving a gazanias skirt, maybe corduroy...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just had two very long (3 1/2 hour) discussions with my PhD supervisors. They were critical but helpful, encouraging but not leading, and it helped me understand what I'd been trying to say. Really, there is amost nothing else that makes me as happy, to have a dialogue where the speakers are working together to make sense and get at some sort of truth about things. In my case, the nature of the 'real' in art.

    So, sorry to blab on about my 'work' but it is the thing (when going well) that makes me the most happy. Now, if only it would result in a long-term job...

    ReplyDelete
  5. No apologies, please, Chrisky. Great to hear your studies are making you so chipper, and you never know what job may come your way... Perhaps I will win the Lottery and employ you to meander about the moor, musing. (And quaffing, perhaps.)
    Would love to hear what's cheering everyone else too.

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