Journaling – Part of the ‘Happy Secret’
Journaling is included in this TED talk about the “happy secret” approach to living a more fun, productive, rewarding life.
It starts with how you feel, and how positive you are. Your emotional level — how happy you are — determines how happy your life events are.
Click the Play arrow to watch it. The video is about 12 minutes long, and very worthwhile.
If you’re in a hurry (though I hope you’re not), the screenshot below shows you the point to fast-forward to. Start at about the 11 minute marker. (The graphic, below, is a screenshot… click on the video above, to watch it.)
All of those suggestions can help. Of course, “meditation” will mean different things to different people, from prayer to conscious meditation, and from time spent admiring art in a museum, gallery or studio, to the simple act of “being there”… being in the moment. However, I believe that the more of these elements you can include in your life, the happier you’ll feel.
In the context of this website, the idea of journaling each day — making notes (words, images, a recording, etc.) about one happy event of that day — can make a big difference in your happiness.
Of course, the studies were based on a 21-day practice of… well, whichever of those choices seem most appealing to you.
In some cases, people will become happier the first day. Others will need to acquire or develop the habit, and — somewhere around day 21 — the person will pause and realize that she (or he) is feeling happier. Colors seem brighter. There seem to be more opportunities, more fun, and more whimsy in daily life. Serendipity is in your favor, and life is better.
I’ve always been an enthusiast of journaling or keeping a diary. Now, there’s evidence that it can improve your happiness, as well.
Art Journals – Beauty is in the eye of…
Today, I was browsing some sites where people have posted their art journals (or artist’s journals… same thing… it’s a term always in transition).
I quickly found a wonderful series of pages, and the artist (Zom) muses if they’re part of an ugly art journal.
I want to say, “No! Those pages are lovely!” but I hold back.
It’s sort of like when I was pregnant. Each time, I’d refer to myself as “the fat lady.” At the time, it amused me. Obviously, I was pregnant, not fat, but the size of my stomach… well, my humor runs to sarcasm. Telling me I wasn’t “fat” made me question the vision of the observer.
Hello. 60 inch stomach…? Fat! *chuckle*
But, of course, I understood the point. They just didn’t understand mine… which was also okay. Often, people don’t get my humor.
So anyway…
I look at these pages in all their loveliness. I absolutely love the juicy colors and the choice of images.
However, if Zom wants to call them ugly… well, it’s her journal. My opinions are different, but that’s my experience, not necessarily hers.
Moving past that semantic moment…
I love it where she says, “I don’t know how much of a connection I am feeling with this art journal. Is the form no longer relevant?”
That resonated with me. For a long time, I didn’t connect with my artists journals. I looked at them, tried to add to them, and generally felt a sense of ennui before completing even one page.
I became a different person over the past several years. The reasons I’d kept an art journal, years ago… they weren’t there any more. It was a different context altogether. For starters, I’d been driven to keep my journal… it was a manic, almost “outsider” thing, for years. It was how I kept my sanity during challenging years.
Since then, my world gradually shifted. It wasn’t quite like watching paint dry, but it was very slow-moving. I didn’t want to articulate it because the changes — even the minute ones — were radical, but — at the same time — they were constantly in transition.
What I’d say one moment might be totally different, even an hour later. I suppose they were very subtle ah-HA! moments.
So, I’d put things down on paper and, later that day or sometimes a few days later, I’d shred them. They weren’t me… not a “me” that lingered for more than a few minutes, anyway. And, with such fleeting changes, I didn’t want to keep art around that represented that. It took me back in time, uncomfortably. It wasn’t a real ME-me, if you get my meaning.
I do like to document the process, no matter what the process is. However, there are times when the changes are like trying on a huge stack of clothes in a fitting room: By the time I find what fits me and looks good, I’ve pretty much forgotten the oh-dear-heaven-that’s-not-me stuff, now at the bottom of the pile.
I don’t want to save some of those half-baked journal pages any more than I’d take photos of myself in unattractive clothing in the fitting room.
They’re not me.
They don’t have significance in my life, even as process.
Keeping those pages would be making the moment more than it was.
Perhaps I should journal about those pages.
Anyway, this blog entry (linked below) is wonderfully, deliciously thought-filled. Click to read the pages. They’re very good and some may resonate with you as they did with me.
pinch me to see if you’re dreaming: An Ugly Art Journal
pinchmetoseeifyouaredreaming.blogspot.com10/13/11
I don’t write as often about my art journal as I used to. I think my AJ and I have been going through a difficult phase. I knew things needed to change, not because anything was ‘wrong’ but because, for me, the innate nature of …
The Return of the RR – RR #2 images
Round Robin #2 (from the Yahoo Group, ArtistsJournals) has returned to me, and Stephen duToit has added many wonderful pages.
Here are a few of them:
‘This Is Me’ Journal Pages Project
Let’s try a new, collaborative, artists journals project. I’m launching this through the ArtistsJournals group at Yahoo Groups.
Here’s my email to that group, slightly edited:
The round robin concept didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. Oh, it’s turning out okay, but I think we can find a better way to do this. Let’s try another approach to collaborative projects.
I’m calling this the “This Is Me” artists journals series, and they’ll become books… digital and printed.
THIS IS ME – VOLUME 1
The first one is “This Is Me – Volume 1″ and the deadline is June 1st, 2011. Everyone who plays will be included in this book of artists’ journals pages. (If there are too many players for just one book, there will be a Volume 1a, Volume 1b, etc.)
I mean it: Everyone will be included. No exceptions, unless the work is a clear violation of our Artists Journals group rules (such as inflammatory works) or jeopardizes the book in terms of copyright laws.
COPYRIGHT ISSUES
To save us headaches, and endless re-editing and agitation over “cease & desist” letters, avoid using a single copyrighted image (or a couple of them). If you’re using other people’s images, be sure your work includes so many elements combined in such original ways, they’re beyond “derivative.”
Example:
I wouldn’t publish this page from my Decluttering Journal, because it’s too reliant on copyrighted images: http://www.aisling.net/gallery/journals/declutter03/35-36.htm (Yes, that’s one of my very old artist’s journals webpages that is desperately out-of-date.)
Likewise, the Audrey Hepburn image is too recognizable (and copyrighted) on this journal page: http://www.aisling.net/gallery/journals/diary02/05-03star.jpg
However, I’d take a chance on either of these pages, because they combine so many elements, each of which is only a very small part of the whole: http://www.aisling.net/gallery/journals/diary02/05-02.jpg
Also, if you’re using rubber stamps, they must be your original designs. Even if it’s an “angel” company, if it’s necessary to say anything about the stamp (or its manufacturer), do not use it.
Note: Each artists retains the copyright to his or her original work in this book. You’ll simply sign a release to let us publish it in this one book.
HOW TO PLAY
1. Sign up. Add your name to the Database in our Artists Journals Yahoo Groups files. (I think this link will work IF you’re already a member of our Yahoo Group, ArtistsJournals: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/artistsjournals/database?method=reportRows&tbl=2 )
If you’re not already a member of Artists Journals, sign up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/artistsjournals/
Adding your name to that list isn’t a set-in-stone commitment. See “minimum participation” section, below.
- Go ahead and sign up if you’re interested in this project. It’s okay to then wait & see if we have enough interest, before creating your journal page.
- (When we reach the minimum number, I’ll post an announcement at the Artists Journals group at Yahoo Groups, so everyone will know the project has a green light.)
2. Create one (just one) journal page that expresses YOU… who you are.
It can be a self-portrait in any medium, or a page that represents who you are inside… something you believe in, what’s going on in your life right now, some recent travels that were deeply meaningful, etc.
Remember, these are artists journals pages. A page covered with text, not art, cannot be included.
If you’re not sure what “artists journals” are, see my other website, http://www.artistsjournals.com/ or search on “artists journals” at any search engine.
The page must be 6″ x 6″ and scanned at 300 dpi (pixels/inch).
- If the work is larger, scale it down to fit that size.
- If the work is smaller or not in a square format, it’s okay to include white (or black or colored) space as necessary. However, to be included, the finished graphic MUST be 6″ x 6″ at 300 dpi.
In other words, you’re sending me an image that’s 1800 pixels by 1800 pixels.
Note: If the original image is smaller than 1800 x 1800 pixels, do not take a 600 x 600 image and “enlarge” it in a graphics program. The quality won’t be good enough.
3. Send it to me as a JPG or TIF (preferably in CMYK colors, color-tweaked so it looks how you want it).
If that’s confusing, here are the basics: Send me a color JPG that’s 1800 pixels x 1800 pixels. The colors may not be perfect in the book, but they’ll probably be close enough.
4. Include a description/explanation of the work, up to 50 words. Also include: The title of your work, your name as you’d like it to appear in print, and one (only one) URL if you’d like people to visit your website.
5. Email this to me at: me1 @ artistsjournals.com The Subject line MUST say “This Is Me – Vol 1″.
Important: If you don’t use that Subject line, it may get lost in the over 500 non-spam emails I receive daily.
And, since posting this email address will probably lead to spam, I’ll probably auto-delete anything that doesn’t have that Subject line.
6. It must be received no later than 1 June 2011.
MINIMUM PARTICIPATION
At least 100 people must participate, and that means at least 130 people signing up, to allow for typical dropout numbers. (Do not sign up at this –
Aisling.net — website. Sign up at the Artists Journals group at Yahoo Groups.)
If we have fewer, there won’t be enough pages for the book. So, it’s okay to tell your friends to join our group (AJ) and sign up, if they’d like to play, too.
Assuming everything goes as planned, the book will be available as a digital download and in printed form by August 1st. (The “as planned” part hinges on my husband being able to assemble the book/s for publication by the end of June. Generally, he can do that.)
Also, feel free to post reduced versions (72 dpi) of your pages in the Photos section of our Yahoo Group files.
Photo credit: Book pages / photo by norriuke, Lithuania
To learn more about artists journals, see my Artists Journals website or join the discussion at the Artists Journals Yahoo Group.
Artists’ Journal RR #2b – Debbie O’s pages
The following two journal pages are glorious examples of work by Debbie O. of our Yahoo Group, ArtistsJournals.
They’re wonderful mixed media journal pages with fabric elements, and they’re full of personal insights and juicy imagery.
These continue the journey of Round Robin #2b (a larger blank journal) as it traveled across the U.S. and then to foreign lands.
