Day 51, 100 Happy Days: Halfway There

Once again, I'm halfway through my 100 happy days. And, I feel great! Not all the time, every day, but I'm pretty sure that I feel a LOT better than I would be if I weren't doing this project.
It's funny to have done this before, and to know the benefits of focusing on things that make me happy, and to still not do it as a rule.
Each time I do the 100 happy days, I get better at it. There may be people with a set point of "happy" or "sad", but it's not the law. Happiness is a habit, and sometimes it takes work but it's worth it. My work with it is not only to find it (more difficult than you think at ties), but to write about it every day. I never go to bed without writing about the thing that makes me happy because it would be too easy to abandon. And my rule is: If I miss one day my happiness blog, then I have to go back to day one.

So, 51 days in and I'm feeling great!

Day 50, 100 Happy Days: Being a Working Artist

I had to cut an orange peel to see what it felt like. And to make a face.

Making a living as an artist - or even making an attempt at it - is a strange endeavor. We put ourselves out there, we bare our souls. We spin plates, wear many hats and often burn the candle at both ends in order to pay the bills.

Making a living as an artist is a lesson in asking and receiving. Asking for sales, for support, to be accepted into shows. It can mean asking for donations, asking for volunteers, asking for help.

And it means receiving. Graciously. Receiving money for one's art, receiving gifts of space heaters and art supplies and wall paint and yes, money. In The Art of Asking, Amanda Palmer calls this "taking the donuts". It's not always an easy thing, but I'm learning. To ask and to receive.

Making a living as an artist makes me happy. The goal, of course is to make a great living at just selling my paintings. But for now I'll settle for selling my paintings, teaching out of my studio, renting my wall space, pet-sitting, and whatever other odd jobs come my way. There's no sick leave or paid vacations, and I work most evenings and weekends. And I love it.

Here are some of the things that made me happy today...

Beautiful sunny January day, walking the dog. (Why are those leaves hanging on in January, anyway?

New space heater! A gift from a good friend. This will change things up for me.

I'm so thankful for the cash that just appears now and then in the donation jar. A five-spot appeared in there today.

Day 49, 100 Happy Days: Facilitating Creative Healing

No pics of the class, but here is the cute kitty I'm sitting.

Today was the first Artist's Way class of the new session (first of 13 classes), and it was just amazing.
I had a hunch it was going to be a really good, cohesive group, and it seems I was right. This group feels like it was meant to be together.

It's a privilege to be able to facilitate the creative healing for these women (this class happens to be all women).

Today was a meet-and- greet, plus an overview of the class. Each person introduced herself and stated where she is creatively, and what she hopes to get out of the course.

I've been holding this class for several years now, and it is really wonderful to watch people progress over the weeks. Today I got to hear about where people are creatively, and sometimes where they are generally in life. It's great to hear that and to have some idea of where they will be at the end of the thirteen weeks. It's like having foresight; I know that if they put the work in - even minimally - that they will be a better place than when they started.

It's exciting to watch happen.

Happy!

Day 48, 100 Happy Days: Jesus Shaves Mug

Jesus saves, aaaand...

Jesus shaves. Boom.

I belong to this really amazing woman's meet-up group. It's a very active group (sometimes several meet-ups a week), yet I only manage to get to a couple a year. But every time I go I get a warm welcome from ladies I know as well as ones that I hadn't met yet.

Tonight was the 5th Annual Procrastinators Xmas Party and White Elephant Gift Exchange. It's always a good time. I gotta tell you, I love me a white elephant gift exchange!

A couple of years ago I scored a sweet programmable slow cooker at a white elephant.  Tonight I came ever so close to getting a beautiful ceramic sushi set, but alas, it was stolen from me. As was the Duck Dynasty doll, the glass brick with white lights in it, the tea-for-one teapot with mug and tiny bottles of booze and... I don't even remember what else. It seems like I was up there every 10 minutes opening a new gift (there were more than 30 of us).

In the end, I nabbed this super cool Jesus Saves (money)/Shaves mug. YES. Pour hot water in, and the beard disappears. Does it even get more awesome than that? (Well, ceramic sushi set...)
I must say a few people wanted to steal my Jesus Shaves  mug, but I gave them the pathetic trembling lower lip, and they felt sorry for poor little old me who kept getting her gifts stolen. Bwahahahaaaa...

Day 47: Cancelled Plans and Blue Lights

Today was a good day, but I woke up exhausted and never quite recovered. So when my date let me wiggle out of our plans tonight... bliss. An evening in front of the TV snuggling with a pooch is just what the doctor ordered. I tend to overschedule my life. Need to stop doing that.

I took the picture on the left when I was out walking the dog this evening. Blue lights just seem to pull me in. As I took the picture in the dark, I noticed the vines below the lights, and realized that I have photographed those vines before. In fact, I think that every time I pass that house I take a picture or two. In addition to beautiful lights and groovy vines, it has trees that I can only describe as magical. They're like fairy tale trees. But not creepy "child lost in the woods about to get eaten by a wolf" fairy tale. Just dreamy.