Entries from August 2007 ↓

Picture by andyi via Flickr. Creative Commons license.

For a larger version of this picture and comments by andyi, click here.

The photographer, andyi, has written a short essay on having the courage to celebrate your own personal joy, no matter what other people think: “By celebrating your personal joy, you add to the whole of the Universe. I heartily salute this woman…it’s a gesture of great generosity to share that sort of joy with thousands of strangers.”

Dave Schoof, author of Engaging the Disquiet, also inspired this week’s post. In his comment to my last post he wrote, “I actually think it is the things we hold as the ‘imperfections’ in us that make us loveable. When I see someone’s vulnerability, struggle or even suffering, my heart opens.

There is a wonderful expression and practice in Japanese called Wabi-Sabi: the beauty in imperfection.”

(See Tadoa Ando’s discussion for more information about Wabi-Sabi .)

Amen to that, Dave. I feel the same way. I’m guessing it’s not a common reaction, otherwise imperfection wouldn’t be such an issue. But as I see it, that’s not our problem. Our job is to put as much as love, acceptance and compassion as we can into the world. I’m convinced it makes a difference.

If you ever do find yourself feeling unworthy and unlovable, I would suggest looking at the video of Jessica the Hippo, especially the very end, when she gets tucked in at night. It’s one of the most heart-warming videos I have ever seen.

Thanks to Gimundo for introducing me to the video. That is a site worth visiting if you like uplifting stories and videos.

We don’t have to be perfect to be lovable. That is one of the greatest lessons we can learn in life.

I’m sure there are plenty of people in our society who would scoff and dismiss this talk of love as “touchy-feely” hogwash. We live in a competitive world, they would say. We have to be tough and on our guard.

I certainly agree we live in challenging times, times that call for innovation, focused effort and teamwork. And creativity and cooperation simply do not thrive in an atmosphere of fault-finding, finger pointing and people trying to feed their egos at the expense of others.

So one of the greatest gifts we can give to the world is to notice when we’re harshly criticizing ourselves and others and instead start cultivating an atmosphere of compassion and respect. As the famous quote of Mahatma Gandhi says, “We must be the change we want in the world.” Every day brings us plenty of opportunities to do it.

For a related posts see Happiness, the Purpose of Life? and (on my other blog) The Greatest Teachers.

It’s a Magical World was Bill Watterson’s last cartoon book. And the last cartoon in the book has Calvin and Hobbes trudging through the new snow with their toboggan.

“Everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand-new!” “A fresh, clean start!” they say.

Then Calvin looks at Hobbes and says, “It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy…let’s go exploring!”

When was the last time you felt that feeling of wonder and excitement, that a whole new world was open to you? There’s a good discussion going on Dawud Miracle’s post What Does It Mean To Succeed? that touches on this subject. In his comment Stuart Baker says, “This whole orientation of building one ’success’ and accomplishment upon another can get pretty empty and misguided. And it can feed major stress!”

Amen to that. It goes back to that Joseph Campbell sentiment in my last post, doesn’t it? People want their life in the external world to be aligned with the deepest part of themselves. So when people don’t feel that connection, what stops them from trying to find it? A friend of mine puts it succinctly: “I don’t want to wind up being a bag lady.” They’re afraid that even if they could find what they love in life, following it might mean dropping out, risking alienation and poverty.

That’s why I find the recent Fortune Magazine (August 6, 2007 issue, pages 30 and 34) interview of Jim Buckmaster, CEO of the highly successful Craigslist, so refreshing. When Buckmaster was asked if he had overcome any adversities during his career, he answered, “I kept quitting in the face of adversity until I found something I loved doing, after which point all obstacles became surmountable.” He quit medical school and a few other jobs because, as he says, “If you’re in a job you don’t like, almost anything can seem insurmountable. Conversely, if you are in a job you like, obstacles start to look small. At Craigslist it feels like we’re doing something positive for society.”

And that spirit of contribution is important. When the interviewer asked him wouldn’t have to become more aggressive about growing revenues in the future, he said they don’t worry about financial metrics, they’re just a “pleasant side effect if we manage to do a good job by our users.”

I don’t know about you, but Jim Buckmaster is my idea of a successful person.

For a different way of tapping into that feeling of magic, see Linda Salazar’s recent post, Falling Awake.

I don’t know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars and planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but at the very least, it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves.
—The Dalai Lama

I like that quote because it recognizes that the universe is much larger and more complicated than our little minds can completely comprehend. A huge dose of humility is the only sane way of dealing with it. But that doesn’t mean we have to be unhappy.

In fact, the Dalai Lama believes that the purpose of human life is to be happy, and that we can achieve that by being loving and compassionate to one another. Certainly love and compassion are important parts of my own happiness, but for me they’re not quite enough. I also need a certain amount of challenge in my life, and I need to be using my talents and contributing in ways that engage my deepest passions.

So I’ll add a bit of Joseph Campbell to my prescription for happiness:

People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality….
–Joseph Campbell in “The Power of Myth”

And just how do we go about doing this? How do we uncover our “innermost being and reality”? One of the surest ways of getting in touch with our deepest selves is by free-association journal writing. If you’d like to try it for yourself, try Steve Pavlina’s method of discovering your life purpose in about 20 minutes. It could be life-changing. You might just find yourself happier and more passionate about life than you could have imagined.

Picture courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

For another view of the search for happiness, see Adam Kayce’s post on the subject.