More on Happiness

These blog awards may be a gimmick that does the rounds, but this most recent one has set me off on a process of thinking and a journey around a few new blogs. The kindly Cusp bestowed the award on a few of us PWME/CFS (People With ME or CFS for Those-Who-Don't!?!*)

One of the other "winners" was Michael Nobbs. I visited Michael's blog over a year ago and was interested in his drawing and approach to living with CFS, and returned a number of times. Unfortunately Michael was on a bit of a health-related hiatus at the time, and I seemed to lose track of him. So when I returned recently to check out his blog, it was great to see how far he has come. By that, I don't mean that he is cured or even mostly better, but rather that he has worked out a way of living with his CFS that feels very authentic to him. It looks as if he is managing to set meaningful goals and achieve them, by just working away in small chunks and not putting his health or happiness at risk.

There are a few things about Michael's story that run parallel to my own, and I've found many of his posts and mini-podcasts about his thoughts and approach incredibly pertinent. For starters, Michael "came to art", in his case drawing, after he became ill. Secondly, he felt a need to go back to uni and actually study art, to be able to really call himself an artist. The third thing we have in common is that we both recently lost our mothers and we've both written books about how we are working to deal with that fact.

When you visit Michael's website, the front page announces that his fourth issue of  The Beany is available, this being for want of a better term, a zine that Michael publishes. The current edition focuses on the time after the death of his mother, and is titled "Looking for the Joy". You can read excerpts online here, but I want to share the quote that really caught my interest and which prompted me to buy my own copy.

I just really wanted to know what changes Michael had decided to make and how they are working out. While I was waiting for my copy of  "Looking for the Joy" to arrive (which it has now - and it's a lovely read) I explored Michael's blog and mini-podcasts. The first thing I noticed was this:

Could that possibly be right? 20, 000?
But it is, so he's obviously doing something right, offering something that people want, or more likely need.

I have to say I think it's fantastic! Michael has re-worked his life and he's leading it his way, and making it work for him, while giving so much to so many other people. Personally, I love his use of  Audio Boo to make his mini-podcasts.  They are only a few minutes long, and in a sense, not that different from his blog posts, but hearing his voice, which is very friendly and chatty, just cements an instant connection. Did I say I think he's fantastic?!?

As you can tell, I've found the man and his story very inspiring. Obviously, he represents something that I am sorely in need of at the moment.He hasn't been afraid to slow down and to take a good look at his life, his direction and make the changes that felt positive to him. That's all stuff that I feel the need to do too.

Happiness Award gets me thinking...

The lovely Cusp, over on L'Ombre de mon Ombre has kindly given me a Happiness Award.


These awards go around from time to time, with minor variations. I quite like the way they entice the recipient to share some info that probably wouldn't normally be in their blog, but I'd say it's rare that a blog award leads to anything too earth-shattering. In this case, I feel like it has, but I'll get to that shortly. First, according to the rules, I have to:

- Thank the person that awarded you this in the new post.

- Name 10 things that make me happy.

- Pass this award onto other bloggers and inform the winners



So first and foremost, thank-you Cusp. I really appreciate you thinking of me and your support and friendship over the years(!)


Now, 10 Things That Make Me Happy. Well, hm. Actually being a bit of a grumpy old thing who just hides it well, it took me a while to get going on this, but once I was in the flow, I really enjoyed it and had no trouble coming up with at least ten. So here goes:


1. Tropical thunderstorms
2. Walking on the beach
3. Puppies and kittens
4. Anything deep,deep red
5. Floating on my back beyond the breakers, looking at a blue sky
6. The moment when you realize a migraine has passed
7. Watching vision of jellyfish
8. Dachshunds
9. Listening to the type of music that prompts me to dance (albeit briefly) like a maniac
10. Getting to wear my knee high boots (the implication here is that the weather is cool enough to allow this)

When I shared my list with my darling husband, he replied that we should make sure that I get to experience each of these every month. Which made me want to scrub out something on the list and include him instead (perhaps the jellyfish could go...)

Of course, being with Him and with my dearest friends are definitely on the list, as is doing art, but I was just thinking that the list should be more incidental things, those things that you just happen across or find yourself doing in the course of your day. That's just my interpretation though.


So now on to naming some worthy recipients for a Happiness Award. I've purposely avoided nominating anyone who I know already has one (you know who you are). So, as they say, the nominations are: Carol, SCB, ronnie, Ida, dinahmow, Angela and Ampersand Duck. Yes, that's right, I've nominated everyone over at Book*Art*Object because I am so happy to be a part of this group and this project. If you haven't been over there to check out the blog and see how everyone's books are coming along, well there is no time like now. I also recommend taking a peek at the individual blogs of these talented women. Although together at BAO, each has come from somewhere different and their individual creative pursuits are incredibly vibrant and varied.


I have to tell you that the simple exercise of thinking about 10 things that make me happy and my dh's comment about doing them all every month made me realize something. It made me realize that I actually put very little effort into making myself happy. And that's not because I don't want to be happy, I do. It's because it's been a really long time since I thought about what does make me happy. And if you're not aware of those things, then how can you choose to do those things? And if you don't choose to do those things (and others) well, not unreasonably, it's going to be fairly hit-and-miss as to whether you are happy or not.
I guess this is all pretty obvious, but sometimes I think the old Protestant work ethic just kicks in, and you switch on auto-pilot without even realizing. So I've made a decision to start by putting some effort into understanding what does (and would) make me happy. Then I can take some steps to make some of that stuff happen more often. So...we'll see where all this leads. In the mean time, just to make me happy...

Dachshund Parade
Originally uploaded by NY NIK