A lovely video and clear message: happiness is… free infinite energy. Enjoy this burst of visual poetry, that originally was created for a site-specific outdoor projection project in Beacon, NY, USA.
As I was strolling through the city of Rome, I was thinking about happiness and how it always seems to come and go. I was imagining it to be a profession, and realized that if it were, it would be the hardest work. Even having a dozen degrees wouldn’t be enough for guaranteed success. Because just as with a dentist, regardless of the amount of diplomas on the wall; you could still be genius or a dud.
What if happiness was a profession?
Just like a Doctor of Medicine, you’d need to master the skill of improvisation, finding new cures against unexpected attacks by unfamiliar viruses of depression. Like a Lawyer, you’d need to be an excellent debater, always able to convince the jury that the things that cause sadness are in fact opulent gifts of life. Like an Engineer, you’d need the talent to create fantastic theorems for building happy pieces of reality starting from what already exists. And you’d need the courage of a Physicist and dig deep into the core of transformation to discover the atoms of which happiness is constructed.
You’d also need to have patience, just like an Astronomer observing the evolution of stars. You’d need the generous mind of an Architect to conceive forms and shapes that enrich empty spaces with beauty. And like a Microscopist, you’d need to look beyond what you can see with the naked eye, because too often that’s just inadequate.
If happiness was a profession, you’d need to be cool like a Poker Player, bluffing yourself through life’s challenges. Like a Saint you’d have to understand, love and forgive all that comes in the way of your work of happiness. Like a Poet you must create beautiful new objectivities, by reinterpreting poor realities. You’d have to play it like an Actor and digest and purify it like a Writer. You’d need to be accustomed to poison like an ancient King and be able to turn lead into gold, just like an Alchemist. And most of all… just like a Yogi, you must be able to ignore provocations, because provocations cause anger, and anger… is a reason to be expelled from the register of the happy-‘professionals’.
So clearly, if happiness were a profession… it would be the craziest, most demanding job. Ridiculous even. And then I stopped walking and smiled. Because although it’s hard work at times, happiness is not a profession. It’s a force of energy, always there for us to tap into without any effort. And maybe that’s the hardest part of happiness: to not work for it at all, but to just let happiness… happen.
Silvia Bilotti
(This piece is an excerpt of Silvia’s upcoming novel, edited for focusNjoy by Stijn Ouwehand).
Silvia Bilotti was born close to Naples but currently lives in Rome, Italy. She works as an actress in theatre and television productions, she’s a singer and writer. She writes poetry and “Il Canto della Dea” (The Song of the Goddess) is the title of her last anthology. Her first novel “Apnea” is going to be published and she is currently working on her next novel and a new anthology.
More posts on happiness
– Happiness needs no cause
– Stop chasing happiness, start being happy
I guess you’re familiar with this sensation: one moment you feel great, and the next… well not so great. I sometimes feel like I’m nothing and sometimes I feel as though I’m everything. It’s a really fine line, much like it is with being crazy or brilliant. John Lennon had a nice way of putting it. He said: “Part of me suspects I’m a loser. The other part of me thinks I’m God Almighty”. I wrote a post about that one too. Anyway. A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon the “I, a universe of atoms…” quote by the American physicist Richard P. Feynman (1918 – 1988). And it’s stuck in my head ever since. Because to me his words are both mind blowing and heart warming. The thought of “I” being a tiny, stand alone atom – and an infinite, whole universe at the same time, blows my ego off it’s socks. Because “I” isn’t (only) the ‘earthly me’. “I” is a single atom and an entire universe, completing one another. Think about that when you’re looking at yourself in the mirror. So yes, it’s a quote I gratefully meditate on. It’s so simple and yet so deeply profound. It makes me feel humble and larger than life at the same time – it’s liberating. Look at us humans. Look at you, look at me. We are both nothing and everything. Again. That’s just… wow.
Being a Life Coach and Creative Consultant – how can I not love this video essay on creativity. You’re going to see the first of a two-part series on ‘our distorted view of creativity and success’. The filmmaker says: “Do you ever have that feeling that everyone else is more successful than you? If you think that’s bad – try being Leonardo Da Vinci”. Scroll down to see part 2. It’s worth your time!
Here’s part 2 of ‘The Long Game’. As I suggested earlier: take your time to achieve great things. And after seeing this video – I’m more convinced than ever: every phase is a chapter. And every chapter has meaning – even when it’s hard to see what it is at the moment you’re still in it. In the end it’s a bridge to the next chapter. So let’ not be frustrated over things if they don’t work out as quickly as we’d like. Let’s be aware that A) it’s just a phase and it will pass and B) let’s wonder what it’s trying to tell us. This way we can learn from it and be more at peace while being in the process.
Ok, you gotta check out this cool guy. His name is Ray Barbee, he’s a legendary professional skateboarder from San Jose, California. This short film illustrates his passion for creativity, music and photography and shows how he passes those values on to his children. His view on life is refreshing and inspirational. Be playful, curious, creative, work hard, learn new things, do what you enjoy.
Imagine you’re looking for something, but you can’t find it. Annoying. Yes. Very. But then, maybe you’re not supposed to find it. Or maybe you’re just looking in the wrong place. Or maybe… you already found it, but you don’t realize it yet. Whatever the reason is, you might want to stop searching. Why? Well think about it: as long as you’re busy searching – you’re not… finding!
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