Postcards

In The Promise of Happiness, Sarah Ahmed talks a lot about how society has set up happiness as a trope and a goal, a thing that comes along with the attainment of capital and status. She points out that this conception of happiness really just sets people up for disappointment, as their gains in money, power, or status do not necessarily correlate to increased happiness. She reminds the readers that true happiness is found in moments and experiences, not in objects. It reminded me of a country song in which the singer proclaims that he knows money can't buy happiness, but "it can buy me a boat." It is clear from the lyrics that the singer does not equate owning the boat with happiness, but that he knows spending time on a boat is something that makes him happy. 

Quoting M. Scott Peck, bell hooks defines love as “the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth [. . .] Love is as love does. Love is an act of will—namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love” (hooks 28-29).

“Abuse and neglect negate love. Care and affirmation, the opposite of abuse and humiliation, are the foundation of love. No one can rightfully claim to be loving when behaving abusively.”

This postcard is a photo of an art piece at the Center for Creative Works. I see it every day as I go down the stairs into the main studio space, and it always makes me think. It is a lucky find that gives me more questions than answers.

Questions like,

“In virtually all my interviews, guilt was the elephant in the room [. . .] 'Bad conscience' can become ‘torture without end,’ undoing any prospects for happiness” (Sherman 2010).