08 May How and why do we do happiness?
We have a very well known art gallery just around the corner from us and I’ve just been to see an exhibition by a very well known artist. The actual gallery and the actual artist, however, are not really the point of this happiness posting…
…the point of this posting is that once again, in the most unlikely of situations, I pondered and reflected upon something to do with happiness.
As I walked into the gallery I immediately noticed that everyone there was walking slowly and talking very softly (or not at all). Not surprisingly, I noticed that I too was walking very slowly and keeping very quiet.
Now this might not come as a great surprise to any of you as this would be considered to be normal and appropriate behaviour within this context but, I got to thinking, how many other things do we do in other contexts (possibly without even being aware of them) and how many of them are really appropriate and/or helpful? How often is our behaviour influenced by other people and/or but the context we’re in?
How, for example, do we experience and exhibit happiness…when at home? When at work? when out in public? Do we contain and/or restrain displays of happiness in any or all of these settings and if so, is this good for us (or for others)?
I’m not necessarily posing any answers to these questions (for which there probably aren’t really any definitive answers) but rather, as is often my want, I’m inviting you to think about what you do and potentially why you do it and then to reflect upon your answers.
The how’s and why’s of our very own happiness might not always be based on sound logic or rationality! As always, I’d love to know your thoughts and I invite you to post anything relevant and appropriate on our Facebook page.