happiness
Happiness, defined; things that help you find happiness, keep it, and share it with others.
Small Fortunes
There is something magical about opening up a fortune cookie. Not the generic ones at Chinese restaurants that the server plops on your table along side the bill. A stale cookie wrapped in plastic, that contains some pithy comment, “A refreshing change is in your future” or “Happiness is just around the corner.” Not much magic to be found in those mass-produced little treats.
By Linh Huynh5 years ago in Motivation
The Vision Board Reward
The sweat dripped off my face and onto my thighs. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face because the steam in the room was so thick. I wiped my face, a slow sweep of my index fingers from the corner of my eyes to the top of my temples. I was so hot. But I had to practice. Practice makes perfect. I closed my eyes. It was the feeling, my teacher had told me, that was the glue for manifesting any desire. And I wanted this feeling every day, for the rest of my life. I wanted to feel HOT. The past thirty years had been cold. I know you think I mean that metaphorically, but no, I mean, literally, freezing cold. I'd been born and raised in a northern state ("nice place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there") and that meant that there were two seasons: winter and construction. When I waited for the city bus in the morning in the dark so I could spend an hour and 20 minutes each way on public transportation to get to work, my feet ached to the bone with a hardness that I prayed hadn't already crept up my legs, into my stomach, and infected my heart. I knew it hadn't -- yet. I was vigilant. Hypervigilant. I visited this steam room every single day after work, five nights a week. I pounded that Stairmaster as if every grungy revolving step were leading me to nirvana. I would never give up. Then I would shower and dry off, and then, only then, once I had earned my reward, envelop myself in the healing comfort of the steam room at my local fitness club. It was my personal six by six foot telephone booth whose line connected straight to the Universe herself. "This is where the magic happens," claimed my teacher. "You visualize your desire as if the dream has already come true. Close your eyes and let every sense tell you that you are already where you want to be."
By Louise Maness5 years ago in Motivation
In The Worst Year of My Life I Created A Happiness All My Own
Snip. "I can't believe your mom is letting you make such a mess in her kitchen," he said, from his chair in the sun across the room. Snip. I cried the first time she taught me how to do it right. Snip. I do it again, tonight, and all is quiet.
By Audrey Leda5 years ago in Motivation
Purple Painted Tulip
I was drunk with power. In the summer before I started college, for the first time in my life, I attempted a realistic pencil sketch, and a distinct picture of my foot in a braided sandal appeared on the page. I spent several days going back to it and gaping at it in surprise and awe. That really looks like my foot! It was an epiphany. I had unlocked a secret level up skill in the game of life, with no idea how I had done it, and now everything would be easy. Well, not easy, per say, but possible. Achievable. I was in disbelief; an untrained, unpracticed artist uncovering her potential.
By Sydney King5 years ago in Motivation
The Things That Make Us Happy
The thing that people don’t understand is we all live to work right? We all chase money... But everything in your life is borrowed. Your car, your house, the clothes you wear. Not a single thing goes with you when you’re gone... NOTHING... The only thing you own is your soul and moments in time. So why would you waste any more of your life not chasing your dreams and things you feel passionate about, so you feel whole. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. That’s the only thing that should matter is chasing the things that give you that whole feeling in your soul. Because when you’re gone that’s the only thing you can take with you.
By Abi Garmyder5 years ago in Motivation
A work of heart
Imagine springtime in Boston, MA during the mid 1990’s, pre-Tinder, when most people didn’t have cell phones, let alone pastel colored mechanized cutting machines that could quickcut identical shapes like home robots from the Jetsons. I’m applying kohl eyeliner to Gwen Stefani’s “Just a Girl” playing loudly, as I think about which sundress to slip on for my afternoon date. I grab a cardigan as I leave to meet my new lover in front of an independent art supply store in bustling Central Square. We’ve only been dating for a short while, but I already want to show him the innermost part of myself — the creative, vulnerable artist who revels in paper and textile arts.
By Kristina Eng5 years ago in Motivation
Revolutionary Community Design
Imagine a life of freedom –a life of balance and harmony. What do you see? Are you excited to get out of bed in the morning? Do you awake feeling well-rested? Do you feel like have to go somewhere to start your day? Do you eat when you’re hungry, and rest when you’re tired? Do little challenges frustrate you? Are you living in the present moment? Are you happy?
By Maeple Fourest5 years ago in Motivation
Fabric dyeing is my Jam!
This journey began during my sophomore year in college when I volunteered to shadow a fellow fashion design student Kara*. She was going to create a line to present at our club’s fashion show. I was extremely excited because I knew I was going to gain a new experience, and at the same time be up close and personal in my first fashion show. I was eager to help in any way possible. Kara* wanted to try a fabric dyeing technique called marbling to create a cool surface design. This technique was done in a gel bath we created with PVC pipes for the frame and tarps (expensive and lots of assembly required). The process was a rough start, but the results were amazing. Once we finished dyeing Kara’s* fabrics for her line, our professor Patti* encouraged me to dye some fabric that she supplied.
By Arielle Simmons 5 years ago in Motivation
POETRY -
I have not been one to enter contests at all...and there is a reason for this. I have bought lottery tickets for a number of years and i have not won at all. I am too realistic to think i would win the jackpot which is what draws in the lottery participants to buy multiple tickets to be 'in it to win it'...so I just buy the one ticket and rationalize "if I am to win, then the one ticket is more than enough"...and every week at the friendly corner lottery kiosk old Zack checks my ticket against the winning number results and tells me, “sorry Mary you are not a winner this week", and with that i say "oh Zack...just tell me I am a loser". We both laugh at my joke but I can tell that the joke is getting old, and sweet old Zack is kind, and I move on thinking well, maybe next week and life goes on.
By mary gilbert5 years ago in Motivation
