Find a happy person, and you will find a project.
— Sonja Lyubomirsky
I like that quote because it’s true for Andy. He’s a lot happier now that he can nurture his fruit trees and plan his solar hot-water system. Presumably it’s also true for Mike and Cathy, who are each busy with a number of projects. But as far as I can tell from the comments on Leisure and Flow, projects aren’t the only way we keep involved in life.
The word project refers to something more organized than what I usually do. I’m more of an experimenter and explorer. For instance, when I thought of this post I thought of one of our favorite projects up on the land — building a tractor from a kit. As usual, one thing leads to another, so I looked through our pictures to see if we had a good picture of us building it. No, it was dark in the shed, so the pictures look like the one on the left below. So then I had to see what I could do with the picture, knowing full well I wouldn’t like the results.
It took hours to do, and sure enough I don’t like it. But I learned a lot — not just about Photoshop, but also about what artists mean when they talk about value and that colors look different depending on which colors are next to them.
Those years of doing problem sets in college are showing, I think. If you want to learn something, set up a challenging problem and try to solve it. It doesn’t matter what the problem is, it’s what you learn that counts. Do you ever do something like that?
Everything I do is a project. And I learn from every project. Example: designing clothes without using a pattern. Such mistakes, but they didn’t bother me. I thought Ah -ha NOW I know what to do.
Learning to use the TV-DVR I can’t remember it all as Tom tells me what to do. I’ll remember when I figure it out myself.
“Such mistakes, but they didn’t bother me. I thought Ah -ha NOW I know what to do.” Yes!! I find the more I practice that attitude the less frustrating life (think tech support) becomes.
i suppose in a way my blog is an ongoing project.
one that i’m finding more enjoyable than i’d ever imagined.
i wish that bhb would do a blog! i can see it now! and it would be wonderful.
and speaking of bhb… i have ALWAYS wanted to design my own clothes. mainly because i find clothes in general to be very uncomfortable things. i was apparently an early nudist in my family. i got spankings for taking off my clothes when still a toddler. i hated them. (and when i say spankings… rather just reminder swats on my little diapered behind. no abuse there. plenty of padding! LOL) but i guess it took. for i finally kept them on.
i think i would like to make easy linen or soft material tunics that didn’t bind ANYWHERE . . .
out of beautiful earth tones . . . putty or stone . . . deep autumn brown . . . forest green . . . rich blues . . . and wine reds . . . and burnished gold.
to wear with black leggings. in the fall and winter. with my long socks and earthy sandals! now there would be comfort.
yes. to be able to design and make my own clothes . . . ah. now there may be a future project on the horizon! LOL. who am i kidding? i’m a dreamer and a starter.
not a finisher. and therein lies the crux.
and as to your picture . . . you continue to simply amaze me with this computer creative stuff. i mean A. M. A. Z. E. me!!!! xoxo
of course… what is also amazing is building a TRACTOR from scratch. good lord!
thanks tammy for the complement. You can order your tunic on line. Google tunics.
I can’t do income tax, or record the TV-DVR or fix anything. Tom takes apart anything electronic & makes it work again.
What about caftans for their nonbinding properties? And I’m afraid I’m a kid at heart. When you talked about designing clothes I thought of the paper dolls my sister and I used to play with when I was a kid. Why not dream on paper? It’s easy and fun, and it doesn’t matter how it turns out.
Just this morning Amazon sent me a link to this page on 20 Ways to Draw a Dress. The illustrations aren’t all about dresses, and the dresses aren’t your style, but I like the author’s simple way of drawing. I bought her 20 Ways to Draw a Tree. Haven’t used it yet, but it sits there inspiring me.
And I agree, blogs are great projects! That’s all we really need for creative expression.
Just realized I started a project today.
Two months ago I started a mint bed. $5 for the store plant. Got some little sprigs with little or no roots, which died. Watered twice a day & they grew from the roots. Bushy plants now; putting out runners. Second bigger size mint I got from someone else & they almost died ’cause planted in mid-July. That patch’s bushy too.
The balcony looks down on all that & since we didn’t water the native grass it died in patches & a sedum moved in which is looking bad now that rain is here. MY TODAY’S project is REMOVING all that sedum so the native grass can cover with runners it puts out. I will water next yr. enough to have a nice yard, if I’m going to have all this company.
Is there a chance you’ll have as much company next year as this one? That sure was a potful!
I hope not.
Jeans emailed “I didn’t include you as a project person in today’s post, but maybe organizing your things count. Feel free to correct me in a comment, that’s what the post is for!”
OK organizing my stuff is a big ‘un now, but a project person is someone (Me) who:
Has a big house, raised 4 kids (& neighbor kids), made & kept 2 vegetable gardens, did almost every sport (not team ones) etc.
BTW The 1st time I met Jean we broke from the group & hiked out together on a 16 mile hike, because we were faster than the rest. Stone Lions hike. Remember Jean?
Yes, I remember. 🙂 I was going to say, “I never will forget it.” But at our age, who knows?
I can’t imagine having a big house and four children. Or doing as much biking as you did. Yay, bikehikebabe!
odd that you should comment about paper dolls! they used to be my favorite.
and instead of the clothes that came with them … i designed my OWN clothes for them and colored them first then cut them out … even with the little tabs. LOL.
i’ll check out that link. thanks!
and … no caftans. i made a caftan once. too long and too much material. felt drowning it it! but they are pretty … i must say. i will just stick to my sweaters and jeans or sweat pants.
this summer i’ve worn some very inexpensive silk like material tops that are very loose and free flowing… but short. lovely and cool! cool being the key word here. lol.
I’m a T-shirt and comfortable pants gal myself. Light and carefree.
I tend to see life as a series of projects.
I thought the opening quote had in mind that a happy person showed you a path to embark on (becoming happier).
My lifetime project, of course, has been to be happy/to avoid being eaten by a crocodile. That’s what Cheerful Monk is about. Have you been on this path too?
Not really. More following my nose about what interests me and exploring that. Sounds like I’m less intentional and/or organised than you.
That was in my late youth, early adulthood. By now it’s down in my bones, unless things happen and I need to be reminded. It’s nice to have a North Star to have a general direction, with plenty of room for exploring.
The subtitle for Cheerful Monk used to be Happiness as a Spiritual Practice. I originally thought Transforming Stress would be my main site — this one would be too unusual for people to be interested. Now that this is my only blog I’ve changed the subtitle to Life As a Shared Adventure. It sounds a bit more carefree, not quite so focused.
I was lucky to figure out my values early in life. You might like this article I just read: Why I Left Google: Thoughts on Trading in Pride and Security for Authenticity.
Good luck on sorting things out for your parents. We’ve been trying to make it easier for Kaitlin by buying long-term care insurance. But the prices of all such policies are going through the roof, so after all these years we may eventually be priced out. As usual, life is uncertain.
Anyway, my heart goes out to you. Take care.
Thanks Jean.
Thanks Jean, that’s a great piece. And it’s wonderful to see HuffPo doing a series like this.
Other people’s views of me haven’t been so important to me. And it was easier for me because I was never that good at school (and other things for that matter) – I did ok but never made any honour boards (or even got close).
Also the kind of Christianity I grew up in was (very mildly) counter-cultural – at least in word, and I was one who took the words seriously. So I had a counter, that was seen as somewhat culturally legitimate, to the usual expectations and ‘does as money tells you’ lines.
I will be interested to see if the other articles deal with older people. Being in your 20’s and unattached is different to being in your 50’s and wanting to provide secure housing for your spouse (which, in Aus at the moment, requires a good deal of money).
As far as I can tell, the series is aimed at women. It certainly is harder if one wants a spouse and conventional housing. Thoreau had so much freedom because he was willing to go without those luxuries, and because he had other people willing to support him.
Does Marianne Cantwell (Be a Free Range Human) have any ideas? As I recall she says her stories/suggestions are age independent.
Here’s a story about a husband and wife who turned “his passion into profit”. He started off moonlighting, then they decided to take the leap. It does take hard work and courage.
The only project that readily comes to mind is my wanting to simplify my life. I have finally got rid of all the clothes that were simply hanging in my wardrobe and that is one task done. Earlier many duplicates of household effects were got rid of. Now the final push is the books and I have set the ball rolling by getting a carpenter to redesign my library and most of the books that I will never go back to will also disappear. After that, I will start on my collection of photographs and digitalise them. Should see me through the end of the year.
Four crossword puzzles a day should count as challenging projects on a daily basis!
I have my books down to a manageable amount. I keep buying them, then decide which ones to give to Friends of the Library to keep them from overrunning the apartment.
I’m glad you’ll be digitizing your photographs. We had tens of thousands, and Andy did them several years ago. Fortunately we mostly use digital cameras now. What a blessing!
I should be you Ramana. I have a hard time letting go of past stuff (i.e. material possessions)
sorry, behind with reading “any” blog…this because a project I had planned for later this year, has made a prominent stab – of “get on with it now” and I’m racing to get some worthwhile words on paper because I might not get into Uni for a few weeks…
I can’t really comment because I haven’t had the initial appointment to access what is needed to done…it won’t stop me typing though, so will catch you up with it if necessary, later…
sometimes my projects aren’t real projects rather a goal to achieve something that is needed or even wanted…i.e. the downsizing of my household products/materials.
Thank you for taking the time to comment! I know how busy you are, and your coming by means a lot.