I got along with everyone in my family starting yesterday afternoon. I didn’t have to chew anyone out, or set anyone straight. All the homework got done and the dinner dishes put away, and then I stayed up till about 11:00 just talking about things with my husband. After we went to bed, I got to read my book until I got sleepy. When I woke up this morning to get ready to go, I didn’t have to rush and I wasn’t late for anything.
I took a marketing class at the “Bay Area Bead Extravaganza” from a very smart woman, Nanette Jordan. She is a Certified Life and Marketing Coach. In the afternoon, I took another short class from her about which direction I want to take with my jewelry. This is something that I would never have done in the past because I am a “go with the flow” kind of person but lately, I have had many opportunities and decisions to make and I was finding it hard to focus and decide on anything.
One of the exercises we did was having the whole class brainstorm about ideas of things I could do that I really had never thought of. Each person’s perspective was different from mine and another student wrote it all down for me so I could just listen. This list is a page and a half long and while I may not do everything on it, there are at least 6 brilliant things I am going to seriously consider. I really like my teacher. Well, I guess I like all my teachers just for the fact that they are teaching me something and I am grateful for not always having to make all my mistakes myself and for someone to show me the way, maybe even a shortcut once in a while.
So I have been thinking about what makes ME happy. What makes happiness and where does it come from?
1. I am always happy when I see a pattern somewhere.
(inside the carwash)
(a good dousing - still in there)
(the beautiful blended colors in this magnolia pod)
2. I am happy when I finish a project or task. I am so happy when I finish washing the dishes or all the laundry I am going to do that day. And I am absolutely elated when a project or complicated piece of jewelry works the way I planned.
(a chain I am making that I saw in the current issue of "Metalsmith" magazine, the one with the bright pink cover)
3. I am happy when I can read people’s minds, finish their sentences and understand how they feel. Especially my family.
4. I am happy when I have 2 or 3 days on the calendar when there is nothing I have to do but pick the kids up from school and I can immerse myself in drawing and planning new ideas and then working on them.
A perfect specimen
(a red tamarillo - fruit or vegetable? - from New Zealand, tastes like a cross between a kiwi and a tomato)
(what it looks like inside - so pretty)
5. I am happy when my kids think I have a good idea and they want to do it too.
(here is my son who wants me to create a picture of him flying, like the one I used of myself for my Artfest fatbook page earlier this year) Just wait till I alter this one!
6. PAPER, like the new stack of ATC’s I just cut out for the ATC Fatbook Bee Shay is going to host for Artfest next year.
I think happiness is something we can cultivate and practice to get better at the more we do it. I for one, have quite a hard time creating art when I am not happy. I mean, I really do wake up in a testy mood almost every morning of my life, just ask my husband and kids. If I can I lay there quietly in bed for a few minutes and tell myself that there is nothing wrong, and that chances are everything can go my way by just putting one foot in front of the other. Then I can suspending my belief that "there is no way I can get it all done and that means something is terribly wrong" and forget about that first nasty thought and have a day where I can do what I want and what I need to do to be happy with myself.
(pine cones that fall from the tree by our front porch; the tops fall off and they look like roses so we line them up on the banister like a garland every fall)
Because I think we all have rules and unspoken guidelines for how we think we should be living our lives and fulfilling our responsibilities. If we don't meet these, we aren't happy and feel like we aren't as good as we could or should be. Right?
What makes you happy? I would love to hear about it.
