Day 24, 100 Happy Days: Reflecting on Beauty

"Haven" ©Tabetha Hastings

I had a lovely Christmas Eve morning. It started with writing my morning pages, and then moved on to reading the book I'm currently devouring savoring. (One way or the other I'm eating it up.)

I had just read a particularly beautiful passage, and I paused to reflect on it. I looked out the window to see a the bones of a beautiful old tree standing against the blue sky with a few happy clouds floating by. It was all framed so perfectly by the window. I wanted to paint it.

I wonder if I would have appreciated that scene if I hadn't just read some beautiful, thought provoking words. Certainly I wouldn't have even noticed it had I not paused to reflect on those words.

Art inspires art inspires art.

There is so much beauty in the world if we just take the time to slow down and see it... Savor words, pause to reflect... it can make a person happy.

Happiness Project Day 93: Midnight Walk and Dire Straits

Looking back on my day I couldn't choose which thing made me the happiest. So, I decided to take a walk and think about it.

I hardly ever do it, but I love taking walks in the cool night air. It was a beautiful night, and the walk cleared my head and became my happy thing for today. It was so nice to get away from my computer and look at the clouds moving across the moon. And I love the way the street lights fall on the trees in strange ways that the sun and moon would never do.

Getting out after dark gives a person a whole different perspective on things.

I think these blooms look kind of creepy with the flash on them.

This song was going through my head on my walk. I love pre-MTV Dire Straits.

Happiness Project Day 82: Morning Pages in My Studio, Pink Trees and John Muir Quote

Studio Window

Yesterday I inadvertently left my Artist's Way book and my Morning Pages notebook at my studio.

If you're not familiar with the Artist's Way, Morning Pages are three pages of long-hand stream of consciousness writing. It's like a brain dump, and it's done every day, preferably in the morning. The Morning Pages are a basic tool in the Artist Way, and I have found them to be a great way to free up my mind for the important things in life. Like creativity.

Anyway, I had plenty of paper at home, but I like to keep my Morning Pages together. So after my acupuncture appointment (which of course left me blissful), And before my weekly dog walk, I got myself to my studio for the sole purpose of writing my pages.

Impossibly Pink Blossoms

It was really nice hanging out in my studio without the intention of working in any way, shape or form. I pulled a chair up to a sunny window, and let my brain pour onto the page.
It was a tiny bit of my day - just a half hour - and it was lovely.

Then I went for a walk with Twiggy the Wonder Boxer in Infinity Park, where I had to stop to take in the beauty of this pink blooming tree. Gorgeous on it's own, and made all the more rich and powerful against the lush green grass.

We walked a little farther, and a plaque caught my eye. I must have walked past it dozens of times and never noticed it, but for some reason I looked at it today. At the bottom of the plaque was a quote that provided food for thought for the rest of the walk:

My Happiness Project Day 45: Little Birds and Tree Roots

 

These little birds made me happy today. Yes, there is a filter on the photo making everything look bright and happy. In reality it was a gray and somewhat snowy day, but it felt more like the filtered picture to me. So... I don't exactly have rose colored glasses, but I do have my happy filter!

Also... more tree roots. (I don't know why, but I just dig trees. Roots, bark, leaves, branches... love it all!) The faces in this one are amazing.

My Happiness Project Day 44: Opposite Dogs, Elusive Rooster Cats and Tree Roots

I like that after 44 days of this I can say that looking for things to make me happy is such a habit that I find them everywhere without really looking. The down side to that is that there aren't all that many things that stand out as big happy moments, but... I'll take it.

Today I walked the fluffiest of little fluffy dogs, and we ran into the the the biggest bulldog I've seen. He was off-leash and came galloping across the street to meet us. Bodhi - my fluffy buddy- is a bit skittish anyway, and was quite intimidated by this burly dog who was no taller than him. Of course he was just a big old love bug. Too bad I didn't get a picture of those completely opposite dogs together.




In other animal related happy moments, I finally met the cat of the house where I'm sitting. She's been very elusive, but finally came out of hiding tonight and is as sweet as can be. But the really great thing about her? She sounds like a little rooster when she meows!
Hilarious.





These totally amazing tree roots made me very happy, too. And finding the PS Express app on my iPhone that made the roots look even more beautiful, made me happy, too.

iPhone Spinning Pictures

For some reason I love motion blurs. Of course you can get a motion blur with a Photoshop filter, but I prefer to get mine the old fashioned way: by spinning the camera. It's much more fun that way!