Daily Life: Galerie Judith Engelstad

Art stands alone without any commentary from me. These paintings are vivid and astounding. Here is a link to the gallery in Sausalito, California where they are currently displayed. The artist's name is Lena. Enjoy.

Galerie Judith Englestad

Daily Life: It's the Law

The law clearly states that on sunny days in California all citizens
and non-citizens must drink iced coffee and eat lemon cake at sidewalk
tables. I know this is true because I just made it up and it is a
quantum universe after all.

Daily Life: Friday in California

It's a bright, cool, beautiful California morning. Not a cloud in the
sky, a temp of 65, and a slight breeze. I made the most of the morning
doing nothing. Breakfast, coffee, watching "The Mexican" on HBO.
Simply an excellent morning. I am going to head out in a few minutes
and drive up to Sacramento with a friend of mine to pick up a
motorcycle part and the grab some lunch. Depending on the traffic it
should be a five hour roundtrip, putting me home mid-afternoon.
Tonight's plan is dinner with the nephew and then a quiet evening. My
nephews birthday is Sunday so he and some friends of his are
celebrating tonight - I might join them for a while, but we'll see.
I'll make that call when the moment arrives. So, for now, I am heading
out into that beautiful morning.

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Observations & Essays: Happiness

I was thinking of happiness tonight as I drove home. I was thinking about how elusive some people find it. I am essentially a happy person. I tend to think that the natural human state, all things considered, is happiness. I think that sometimes in the hurly-burly of life we can forget that.

I have a simple formula for finding happiness, for dwelling in happiness. Simply choose those things that make you happy. It is simple, but not simplistic. When you find yourself in circumstances that make you unhappy, simply take a moment, stop, and see if you can determine what it is that is making you unhappy. You can use the "five why's" trick which is a pretty good exploratory tool for many things. You simply ask the question "why" five times. It pretty quickly strips away the superficial and gets to the heart of the matter.

I always recommend writing down the question and the subsequent answers. The psyche can be a slippery place. Once you've laid down the five answers to the five why's, take some time off and then come back to it. Then, as you look at each of you answers, ask yourself one simple question - is it a truthful answer? Often times we will find that rather than truthfully answering the questions we will be trying to shape and craft the answers to fit our preconceived notions, so expect to go through the process several times.

Additionally, as you use the technique to find the root causes of your unhappiness (or anything for that matter) you'll find you become better at it. You will learn to almost instantly recognize when you are trying to give yourself a convenient answer. It is also not unusual to be unable to reach the fourth or fifth why, by you have to keep driving. I think there is a human tendency to try and jump right to the answer.

Now, I think there are two types of unhappiness (just as there are two types of happiness). There is general (our overall condition which tends to remain fairly constant) and specific (the immediate condition which tends to rise and fall based on immediate circumstances and environment). It is obviously much easier to find happiness if your general condition is already there and it is just specific incidents and accidents that make you unhappy. Use the technique on specific moments of unhappiness and gradually expand it to the general condition as you become more comfortable with it.

It's pretty easy to understand and apply the process. The second trick, equally simple, but far more of a challenge, is to simply "do it differently". We humans are creatures of habit for better and for worse. We are creatures of patterns, patterns honed by repetition, patterns shaped by the uneven positive and negative reinforcements of life. Life itself rarely draws in bright lines. In life, most of the time, the lines are blurred and smudged together as we assign value to events and outcomes based on arbitrary standards that may vary. There is nothing wrong with that at all, but in terms of changing our behavior, it is something to be aware of.

We invest a lot in our patterns, so we are often very reluctant to change them. We are far more likely to keep repeating them and hoping for a different result, largely because we are unaware of the specifics of the patterns that determine the results. By carefully examining our patterns, by increasing our awareness of ourselves, we can find some pretty elusive things - including that elusive state of happiness, be it general or specific. If you are decidedly unhappy, give it a try. If you are not quite happy, give it a try. It you are mostly happy, give it a try.

Our natural state is the state of happiness. Returning to that natural state is simple. Challenging, but simple.

Photography: Twilight Flower III

Photography: Twilight Flower II

Photography: Twilight Flower I

Photography: Trees Flowering

Six Things I Believe

I believe in the certainty of faith.
I believe probability is the language of the universe.
I believe pragmatism is the only philosophy that works.
I believe in free will and the transformative power of choice.
I believe that happiness is our natural compass.
I believe the human soul is eternal.

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Daily Life: I Dream of Villiers Head

I had this dream several days ago and jotted down some quick notes, I
thought I would take a few minutes and share it because it was weird
and I am going to blame Repairman Jack. (I just started reading "By
The Sword", a Repairman Jack novel by F. Paul Wilson.)

I dreamt I was in a French manor. It was late at night. A cabal of men
in dark suits had gathered for the presentation of Villier's Head.
This was an ritual designed to celebrate their triumph over there
greatest enemy and celebrate thier power.

The dream was very clear on the presentation being of Villier's head.
I woke up and googled. The most prominent historical figure I found
was George Villiers - the 2nd Duke of Buckingham. He seems to have led
an interesting life. Pity about his head.

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