Sarah Gibbard Cook
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The Power of Maybe

7/30/2018

4 Comments

 
After the initial shock and tears, personal calamity leaves most people almost as happy as before, and happier than those with possible calamity hanging over them. Lottery winners average no happier a year later than they were before, and they’re less happy than people striving toward a difficult but attainable goal. We adapt to loss and move on; the thrill of a win wears off. What cheers or stresses us most is uncertainty. “People blossom when challenged and wither when threatened,”  says Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness.

I wonder if part of the joy of creativity is that we keep setting ourselves new challenges. It never gets dull—or if it does, we try something new. What about the myth of the suffering artist? Sure, some artists are unhappy, but miserable people aren’t more artistic on average than anyone else. When we can’t remove a threat that hangs over us, we may sometimes find a way to reframe it as a challenge and throw ourselves into it with a smile.
4 Comments
Rebecca link
7/30/2018 09:15:16 am

Great title. I like the idea that our exciting creative endeavors fuel our happiness!

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Sarah link
7/30/2018 09:29:45 am

Indeed, Rebecca, and why else would we do them? Good thing the happiness rests more in the endeavors than in any resulting fame and fortune.

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Corrine
7/30/2018 11:28:01 pm

I have never been happier than when I am creating. I know now that that is why I have always had projects of one form or another, crafts, art, whatever. I love trying new techniques and use elements from many as I go along. This learning fuels my excitement and anticipation.

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Sarah link
7/31/2018 07:41:31 am

Corrine, it often strikes me that the joy of creativity and the joy of learning feel exactly the same, so much so that having separate words for them feels (to me) artificial. Your comment captures this and makes me smile.

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    I'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. 

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