Enthusiasm is a renewable resource

| Mac

“Enthusiasm is a form of social courage.” – The Happiness Project, Chapter 11 – Gretchen Rubin

YES!

I love this quote from the Happiness Project. Those of you who know me or have read a fair share of Exploring-Art.com know that I am very enthusiastic, I always try to look at the positive, and sometimes that can make Exploring-Art.com seem a little gushy. Don’t fear I don’t feel that way about everything, I just choose to write about the things that I really have strong, positive feelings for.

For instance I loved RED; it received the full gushy review and recommendation. But the Belfry’s offering of On The Edge that I saw just last Thursday received no mention at all. Don’t get me wrong, going out for an evening to support the arts is always a worthwhile endeavour, so if you want more exposure to the arts, and you live in Victoria go see the current play at the Belfry. Just don’t expect the world, and honestly the highlight of the evening was a wonderful dinner and bottle of wine (Road 13 Chenin Blanc) at Stage the local Fernwood wine bar. I don’t want to write about things that don’t elicit my enthusiasm. I want to write about what excites me, what makes me happy what aligns to Exploring-Art.com’s motto – “Design, Philosophy, Art – Liberating Creative Endeavours”. I don’t want to pan, be terse or put down, as there’s enough of that in the world without my help.

So this epiphany shatters a number of planned changes to Exploring-Art.com. I was planning to launch two new columns here on the site, essentially recommending artsy stuff happening in order to promote participation, which I believe is important. One called “In Victoria” recommending anything artsy that was on the horizon, and two “On the Screen”, which would recommend things on AppleTV or Netflix (I’m cable free) that would appeal to like-minded people. These planned columns have been scratched. Not because they’re bad ideas but because it’s more important to me to channel and share my enthusiasm than it is for me to deliver an encyclopedic reference of the good, bad and ugly of Victoria’s or Netflix’s art scene.

Embrace enthusiasm! Focus on the positive! Free your mind from your subconsciousness, break your innate cycle of want, go forth and conquer… with a smile!

Fortuitously, enthusiasm is a renewable resource here at Exploring-Art.com. There’s more coming.

The Happiness Project

| Mac

Irony is everywhere. When I started my continuing education Fine Arts Diploma Program (FADP), and this blog, it was in a mini rebellion against the self help industry. The Element with its tagline “How finding your passion changes everything” was the major culprit that made me look down my nose at this entire section of books and enrol in FADP instead. Of course as you know from my review of The Element, which I wrote immediately after reading the book an entire year after my initial shun; I loved it.

I stumbled upon another self help book that I devoured this weekend entitled The Happiness Project and I loved it too. This book is probably old news for anyone who is into these types of books but it resonated with me and I feel inclined to reflect on it and its implications for Exploring-Art.com, which in some light could be looked at as the brand for my own Happiness Project. The output of this rumination will be the subject of the next few rapid fire blog posts. I am splitting it up to keep the outpouring of ideas digestible. It is interesting that I had alluded to some change ideas brewing from Wordcamp Victoria and which now, post weekend read, have been significantly altered.

First we will start with why I loved the The Happiness Project, then in later posts we will talk about what it means for me and our adventures exploring art.

It’s personal

The author Gretchen Rubin bares her soul. She shares graphic details of her temper, her husband’s illness and also profound glimpses into her inner conflicts. It is really inspirational to see someone open themselves up to complete strangers in this very rare way.

It’s relatable

Her personal stories resonated with me so much because I found the material so relatable. I had struggled with these challenges and came to many of the same conclusions. Her advice was often it depends – your situation may be different, you may have different needs. All of our journeys are unique.

It’s practical

The books is brimming with practical advice of little things you can incorporate into your own Happiness Project without having to travel to an Ashram.

The Happiness Project was wonderful. If you’re at all interested in promoting happiness in yourself and thereby in others as well, go get this book! More coming soon on its implications for me and Exploring-Art.com.

Truism 02-01-2012

| Mac

I have a million things in the fire right now. It’s ironic that I’m currently writing a short story on how I recently dropped my UVic night class in an attempt to simplify my life, and yet I keep filling up the space with a million other things. Alas, we humans are odd creatures.

With the million and one things on my mind, keeping me awake, a truism arrived from somewhere in my super conscious and I was inspired to share – Laughter is not the enemy of progress.