The Happiness Of Art

Is it possible to be happy all of the time?
Well, yes, but you have to really want that happiness, and as I mention next, it helps to improve your surroundings.

What can I do to increase my happiness potential?
Take a look around you. Think about being a kid. The day when you stop imagining your own environment, when you stop building your own surroundings, when you stop waving a magic hand and gracing everything around you with magic and beauty, things cease to be magical, things cease to be beautiful, and happiness ceases to be available.

Can we buy happiness with money?
Beyond basic survival needs, more money does not mean more happiness.

Can we use our power to force happiness upon ourselves?
In a strange way, this is actually possible.

To explain that last one, allow me to quote the Buddhist monk
Thich Nhat Hanh from his book The Art of Power:

What most people call power Buddhists call cravings. The five cravings are for wealth, fame, sex, fancy food, and lots of sleep. In Buddhism, we speak of the five true powers, five kinds of energy. The five powers are faith, diligence, mindfulness, concentration, and insight. The five powers are the foundation of real happiness.

The first source of energy is faith. When you have the energy of faith in you, you are strong. The word faith is better translated as “confidence” and “trust,” because it is about something inside you and not directed toward something external. Faith is having a path that leads in a good direction.

The second kind of power is diligence. You are capable of coming back to your best and highest self, but you must maintain this practice. When you create mindfulness you have the power to keep a good mental formation. People with the energy of diligence are extraordinarily powerful. They can transform themselves; they can help transform the community, the environment, and the world.

The third power is the power of mindfulness. Mindfulness is the energy of being aware of what is happening in the present moment. Whether you are cooking, or washing, or cleaning, or sitting, or eating, it is a time for you to recognize what is happening in the here and now.. It helps you know what you should do and what you should not do. When we walk with mindfulness, dwelling in the present moment, no longer pulled by our regrets about the past or our worries concerning the future, we touch the wonders of life and each step nourishes our happiness.

Mindfulness brings about the fourth power, the power of concentration. When you drink your tea, just drink your tea. Enjoy drinking your tea. Please don’t drink your suffering, your despair, your projects. This is very important. Otherwise you can’t nourish yourself. Concentration can help us look deeply into the nature of reality and bring about the kind of insight that can liberate us from suffering.

Insight, the fifth power, is a sword that painlessly cuts through all kinds of suffering, including fear, despair, anger, and discrimination. Insight comes from understanding. There may be elements of understanding in us already, but if we don’t have time to be mindful and concentrate, insight won’t manifest in us. If you allow yourself to get lost in regrets about the past and worries about the future, it is difficult for insight to grow, and it will be more difficult to know what right action to take in the present.

It is because of ignorance that we suffer. When we begin to touch insight, we are deeply in touch with reality and there is no longer any fear. There is compassion. There is acceptance. There is tolerance. This is why we talk about insight as a kind of superpower. All of the first four powers lead to this fifth superpower. And with insight comes a tremendous source of happiness.

After reading this excerpt, what becomes clear is that true power and the solution to eternal happiness is not sex, money, and fame. True power and happiness is attained by diligently walking a path of good intention while being mindful and focusing on the present moment to gain insight. This kind of power forces happiness upon ourselves in a beautiful way, because insight and happiness are naturally symbiotic.

Quote for Bagel Eaters:

“Life is like a bagel. It’s delicious when it’s fresh and warm, but often it’s just hard. The hole in the middle is its great mystery, and yet it wouldn’t be a bagel without it.” ~Unknown

Quote for Photographers:

“Photographs are not made by cameras, which are only tools. We make images with our hearts and minds. What must be brought to photography is an ever-open and seeking mind.” ~Arnold Newman

Quote for Painters:

“A painting is never finished– it simply stops in interesting places.”
~Paul Gardner

Quote for Illustrators:

“I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies.” ~Le Corbusier

Quote for Musicians:

“There are no wrong notes.” ~Miles Davis

Quote for Dancers:

“There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.”
~Vicki Baum

Quote for Writers:

“I write as straight as I can, just as I walk as straight as I can, because that is the best way to get there.” ~H.G. Wells

Quote for Linguists:

He who is ignorant of foreign languages, knows not his own.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Please post your favorite quote in the discussion area:

Knowing where to look is less important than knowing how to look.
Be mindful of the patterns, shapes, and colors everywhere. Get up close!
Want a reminder? Hang a calendar on your wall:

Before you find it, do you have to know what it is? By one definition, inspiration is the act of breathing in. When it comes to new ideas and creativity, breathing is helpful. With a deep breath, I become present in the here and now, smiling to myself and relaxing my body. I feel grounded. Not surprisingly, it is in these moments of calm when brilliant, creative, or timely ideas suddenly ignite my fuses…I mean, even rocket ships are grounded before liftoff!

Here are 50 ideas that might help you reach the upper atmosphere:

What starts your count-down?
Who inspires you get playful with your work?
Where do you go for insight and inspiration?
When do you call an idea too far fetched, if ever?
How does a person maintain vivid imagination and hard practicality at the same time?

Regardless of where you are or what you are doing, there is always a wealth of happiness available. The path to this happiness extends throughout your mind, your body, and your environment. Because this path is always available but easy to miss, the best way to find it is through the practice of mindfulness. When you learn to be awake and secretly happy in spite of all circumstances, the lightness of being will provide you with happiness and inspiration everywhere. Here are some simple things I’ve learned to do:

• Your Mind:
  Make an effort to observe your thought processes. Minds are creatures of habit.
• Your Body:
  Follow your breath. Inspiration is a deep breath inward. Happiness is a calm exhale.
• Your Environment:
  Wherever you go, there you are. Check in. If where you are is unacceptable, move on.

Being happy in spite of all circumstances does not mean denying the brutal realities of a troubled world or the traumas of a difficult life. It means seeing a bigger picture and feeling an inner peace. It means knowing yourself well and trusting that as long as you are facing the right direction, all you must do is keep walking.

You can use the North Star to find your way home.
You understand the North Star is not your destination.
You can use mindfulness to find your happiness.
You understand that being mindful is just a guide.

When faced with a stressful or depressing situation, you must first be comfortable accepting reality as it stands. Sometimes things just suck. That’s okay. The clarity of mindfulness will deepen our understanding, help us to see more clearly, and will reveal previously hidden solutions. If the ultimate goal is happiness, why not try and get there?

I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness…

~Dalai Lama

The secret to a happy life is often simpler than we expect. The problem is that we are programmed to adapt. If it seems like contentment never lasts, understand that your genes are just pushing for you to survive. Get it touch with your basic animal nature. Lay down on the floor. Climb up somewhere high. Get excited about simply being alive!

Hi!
Hello.
Welcome. My name is Bodhi. This blog is dedicated to providing inspiration to artists, students, and creative types. We are all born creative, so in that case, this is a welcome to everyone.

The content posted here will cover the themes of happiness, inspiration, goals, dreams, ideas, projects, links, quotes, and the wonderful arts of photography, painting, drawing, music, dance, writing, and language.

There will always be new inspiration. You are encouraged to create discussions and comment on these pages about anything that drives your passions! Please share ideas, post links, write about where or why you are creative (or not), and of course ask questions!

Personally, I am excited about this project because I want to share with you the ways that I have found happiness in my life. The journey has led me to discover that true inspiration comes from many sources and attitudes, and I believe that success in life is happiness.

This is a happiness blog, and the art of happiness is universal.