How to be happier, instantly

Take a good look at this picture.

Now stop taking yourself* so seriously and go shake it to a Prince tune. Enjoy yourself! Do shake it, too, don't just stand there. The activity of dancing always restores one's attention to the immediate present. People who honestly cannot enjoy such masterpieces as "Kiss" or "Let's Go Crazy" deserve to be miserable.

* Take your life, your goals, your work, your obligations and your responsibilities seriously, but whatever you do don't take yourself too seriously or you'll be missing out on all the fun

Bradbury's words of wisdom

“Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things.”

“I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true - hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don't love something, then don't do it.”

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”

- Ray Bradbury

I realize #31

People fail because they settle for being a failure.

I realize #30

Be willing to jump off a cliff creatively... sometimes you will fail in spectacular ways and other times you will take off.

"Only the mediocre are always at their best."
- Jean Giradoux

I realize #29

You cannot reason with unreasonable beliefs - you can only get rid of them and choose the ones that are aligned with the truth as you see and want it to be.

Ken Robinson's words of wisdom

“Human communities depend upon a diversity of talent, not a singular conception of ability.”

- Ken Robinson

I realize #28

In art one is either oneself or nothing at all.

To pretend in art is a crime, it is but the worst form of self-negation that inevitably leads one to despair, confusion and disappointment. The artist who doubts his own heart, his own desire, his own creativity is the most miserable individual of all. For the artist to blossom into authenticity he must first embrace himself and place his faith solely upon his own creative power.

If at the critical moment the artist abandons confidence in his own creative ability and seeks external securities his own unique voice will be stifled and his creativity will not find complete expression.

I realize #27

The highest form of understanding is application. Wisdom is not to be had, but to be lived.

Picasso's words of wisdom

About life :

“Everything you can imagine is real.”

“Paradise is to love many things with a passion.”

“Action is the foundational key to all success.”

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”

“He can who thinks he can, and he can't who thinks he can't. This is an inexorable, indisputable law.”

“What one does is what counts and not what one had the intention of doing.”

“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”

“One must act in painting as in life, directly.”

“You have to have an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea.”

“Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.”

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”

“It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction.”

“Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility.”

“Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much happiness as your spare time.”

“I don't believe in accidents. There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents.”

About Art :

“Art is not the application of a canon of beauty, but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon.”

“No doubt, it is useful for an artist to know all the forms of art which have preceded or which accompany his. That is a sign of strength if it is a question of looking for a stimulus or recognizing mistakes he must avoid.”

“The artist is a receptacle for emotions derived from anywhere: from the sky, from the earth, from a piece of paper, from a passing figure, from a spider’s web. This is why one must not make a distinction between things. For them there are no aristocratic quarterings. One must take things where one finds them.”

“Everyone wants to understand painting. Why don’t they try to understand the song of the birds? Why do they love a night, a flower, everything which surrounds man, without attempting to understand them? Whereas where painting is concerned, they want to understand. Let them understand above all that the artist works from necessity; that he, too, is a minute element of the world to whom one should ascribe no more importance than so many things in nature which charm us but which we do not explain to ourselves.”

“Paintings are but research and experiment. I never do a painting as a work of art. All of them are researches. I search constantly and there is a logical sequence in all this research.”

“The more technique you have, the less you have to worry about it. The more technique there is, the less there is.”

“If you can handle three elements, handle only two. If you can handle ten, then handle only five. In that way the ones you do handle, you handle with more ease, more mastery, and you create a feeling of strength in reserve.”

“A good picture, any picture, has to be bristling with razor blades.”

“A young artist must forget painting when he paints. That's the only way he will do original work.”

“Unless your work gives you trouble, it is no good”

“When the individuality of the artist begins to express itself, what the artist gains in the way of liberty he loses in the way of order.”

“When you begin a picture, you often make some pretty discoveries. You must be on guard against these. Destroy the thing, do it over several times. In each destroying of a beautiful discovery the artist does not really suppress it, but rather transforms it, condenses it, makes it more substantial.”

“The only pictorial matter that is of interest to me is the matter and sentiments brought about by the work itself.”

“What I want is that my picture should evoke nothing but emotion.”

“To me there is no past or future in art. If a work of art does not live in the present, it must not be considered at all.”

“Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.”

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”

“The hidden harmony is better than the obvious.”

“The chief enemy of creativity is "good" sense.”

“To draw you must close your eyes and sing.”

- Pablo Picasso

I realize #26

#1 There is no “good” or “bad” music aside from technical considerations. There is only music that engages emotion, thought or sensation and music that does not -all of which depend almost exclusively on the needs, preferences, expectations and judgment of the listener.

#2 It is just as (if not more) difficult to create meaningful and engaging music with a few tools and/or skills as it is to do with more of them.

Jim Black's words of wisdom

“The only thing I think I must do is play; no, I know that's the only thing I have to do really, is play.”

- Jim Black

I realize #25

The artist does not have to be tormented.

There's nothing “romantic”, nothing attractive, nothing “mysterious” nothing dignified and nothing respectable about being (or appearing) troubled, tormented, surly, angry, depressed etc. The only thing the “tormented artist” myth does is to block creativity, disempower you, minimize your self worth, drive people away, perpetuate a miserable reality and then come up with cul-de-sac excuses that disempower you further by taking responsiblity away from you (e.g. "Nobody understands me", "the artist must be alone", "artists are misunderstood" etc.)

Remember : “If you hold others accountable for what is happening in your life, then your life will be what they make it.”

Seth Godin: Who is easily manipulated?

Sometimes (and too often) marketers work to manipulate people. I define manipulation as working to spread an idea or generate an action that is not in a person's long-term best interest.

The easiest people to manipulate are those that don't demand a lot of information, are open to messages from authority figures and are willing to make decisions on a hunch, particularly if there's a promise of short-term gains.

If you want to focus on the short run and sell something, get a vote or gather a mob, the easiest place to start is with populations that leave themselves open to manipulation.

There are habits and activities that leave people open to manipulation. I'm not saying they are wrong or right, just pointing out that these behaviors make you open to being manipulated...

Article

Habit is everything.

“We are what we repeatedly do.”

- Aristotle

“Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters.”

- Nathaniel Emmons

“Men form habits and habits form futures. If you do not deliberately form good habits, then unconsciously you will form bad ones.”

- Albert Gray

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

- Aristotle

“Character is long-standing habit.”

- Plutarch

“Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive.”

- Edith Wharton

“Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.”

- Mark Twain

“Bad habits are easier to abandon today than tomorrow.”

- Yidish proverb

“Habit is more powerful than will. If you get in the habit of painting every day, nothing will keep you from painting.”

-Irwin Greenberg

“The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half.”

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“Habits are safer than rules; you don't have to watch them. And you don't have to keep them, either. They keep you.”

- Frank Crane

“Men's natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them.”

- Confucius

“If you create an act, you create a habit. If you create a habit, you create a character. If you create a character, you create a destiny.”

- Andre Maurois

“Habit is a cable; we weave a thread each day, and at last we cannot break it.”

- Horace Mann

“The best way to break a bad habit is to drop it.”

- Leo Aikman

“I paint the way someone bites his fingernails; for me, painting is a bad habit because I don't know nor can I do anything else.”

- Pablo Picasso

Long overdue : Cage's words of wisdom

“Value judgments are destructive to our proper business, which is curiosity and awareness. ”

“The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.”

“If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all.”

“I believe that the use of noise to make music will continue and increase until we reach a music produced through the use of electrical instruments which will make available for musical purposes any and all sounds that can be heard. Photoelectric, film and mechanical mediums for the synthetic production of music will be explored.”

“It is better to make a piece of music than to perform one, better to perform one than to listen to one, better to listen to one than to misuse it as a means of distraction, entertainment, or acquisition of "culture".”

“What I'm proposing, to myself and other people, is what I often call the tourist attitude - that you act as though you've never been there before. So that you're not supposed to know anything about it. If you really get down to brass tacks, we have never been anywhere before.”

“People who are not artists often feel that artists are inspired. But if you work at your art you don't have time to be inspired.”

“We are involved in a life that passes understanding and our highest business is our daily life.”

“I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.”

“We carry our homes within us which enables us to fly.”

I realize #24

The bigger our foolishness, the harder it is to see it.

More Miller wisdom

“I had to learn to think, feel, and see in a totally new fashion, in an uneducated way, in my own way, which is the hardest thing in the world. I had to throw myself into the current, knowing that I would probably sink.”

“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.”

“Things happen or they don't happen, that's all. Nothing is accomplished by sweat and struggle. Nearly everything which we call life is just insomnia, an agony because we've lost the habit of falling asleep.”

“Every man is working out his destiny in his own way and nobody can be of any help except by being kind, generous, and patient.”

“I soon learned that one must give up everything and not do anything else but write, that one must write write write.”

“The Happiest peoples, it is said, are those which have no history. Those who have a history, those who have made history seem only to have emphasized through their accomplishments the eternality of struggle. These disappear too eventually, just as those who made no effort, who were content to merely live & enjoy.”

“The most difficult thing in life is to learn to do what is strictly advantageous to one’s welfare, strictly vital.”

- Henry Miller

Musiklust

“While Ellington and Stravinsky certainly shaped some pieces directly for recording, it continues to astonish me that almost no postwar American or European classical composers ever really embraced the record as a basic unit of musical expression, in the way that has been taken for granted in popular music—at least since Frank Sinatra’s celebrated Capitol LPs. How strange that such far-thinking composers as Pierre Boulez or György Ligeti evince little or no interest in exploiting the unique attributes of the recording studio, or the CD as a specific medium. For them recording is a photograph of a sculpture; a picture, as it were, of the art, not the art itself. Whereas for the Beatles, the record itself was the art. To take another example, the great 78s of the twenties and thirties—and I’m thinking here of early jazz, blues, and rural Southern traditions—are typically very carefully orchestrated, as structured as a good sermon, their A and B sides dialectically engaged. What distinguishes the one approach from the other we could call self-consciousness.”

-John Schott
(liner notes to Shuffle Play : Elegies to a Recording Angel)

I realize #23

It doesn't matter to anyone but yourself whether the techniques, processes and tools you use are sophisticated or not; the only thing that matters is how cohesive, functional and effective is the ultimate result.

The surprising truth about heroin and addiction

“[...]what the psychologist Bruce Alexander calls "the myth of drug-induced addiction" is still widely accepted in the case of heroin -- and, by extension, the drugs compared to it -- because moderate opiate users are hard to find. That does not mean they don't exist; indeed, judging from the government's survey results, they are a lot more common than addicts. It's just that people who use opiates in a controlled way are inconspicuous by definition, and keen to remain so.”

Article

I realize #22

Self-awareness should never cause insecurity.

It serves as a tool for accurately identifying why one behaves the way one does in both action and thought. That knowledge is crucial for changing towards the better and removing limitations. However one must focus on the goal : what one wishes to become. Otherwise one becomes trapped in determinism when focusing too much on how and why one currently thinks and behaves as one does.

Various emotional states are intensified by self-awareness, and people sometimes try to reduce or escape it through things like television, video games, alcohol, drugs, etc. However, some people may seek to increase their self awareness through these outlets. People are more likely to align their behavior with their standards when made self-aware. People will be negatively affected if they don’t live up to their personal standards.

Ο Αναγνωστάκης περί ποίησης

«Η ποίηση είναι έργο της νεότητας. Χρειάζεται ενθουσιασμό, αυταπάτες, ψευδαισθήσεις. Αυτά τα έχουν οι νέοι. Όσο μεγαλώνεις, κατέχεις καλύτερα τα μέσα σου. Γίνεσαι τεχνίτης, αλλά ένα ποίημα δεν χρειάζεται να είναι τέλειο για να είναι καλό.»

- Μανόλης Αναγνωστάκης

Συνέντευξη Νίκου Δήμου

“Όταν έγραφα στο «Βήμα», η στήλη μου ήταν μακράν η πρώτη σε αναγνωσιμότητα στο σύνολο του Τύπου. Όταν έφυγα από το «Βήμα», σκέφτηκα, εν τη μεγίστη μου αφελεία, «από αύριο θα σπάσουν τα τηλέφωνα». Επί δύο χρόνια δεν με πήρε κανένας τηλέφωνο να μου προτείνει να γράψω. Ένα βράδυ, σε μια δεξίωση, ένας μεγαλοεκδότης μου λέει «Δήμου, είσαι η καλύτερη πένα της Ελλάδος και σε λογαριάζω γύρω στα 20.000 φύλλα. Τόσα έχασε το "Βήμα" όταν έφυγες, τόσα θα κέρδιζε η εφημερίδα μου αν σε έπαιρνα». Και τον ρωτάω, γιατί δεν με παίρνετε; «Γιατί δεν είσαι άνθρωπος, γράφεις ό,τι θέλεις εσύ» μου απάντησε. Κατάλαβα ότι στην Ελλάδα δεν λειτουργεί ούτε καν ο νόμος της αγοράς. Έχεις ένα καλό προϊόν που αφενός το εξαναγκάζεις σε παραίτηση και ο άλλος, σκεπτόμενος ότι θα έχει προβλήματα με τους πολιτικούς του πάτρωνες, δεν θέλει να το αγγίξει. ”

“Η διαφήμιση έφαγε δεκαοκτώ χρόνια από τη ζωή μου, αλλά μου έδωσε οικονομική ανεξαρτησία - δηλαδή τη δυνατότητα να μπορώ να παραιτούμαι. Ένα από τα γνωστά ρητά μου είναι ότι τα χρήματα δεν μπορούν να σε βοηθήσουν να κάνεις αυτό που θέλεις, αλλά να μην κάνεις αυτό που δεν θέλεις. ”

“Με συγκινούν τα παιδιά, οι γέροντες, οι ανήμποροι, οι άνθρωποι που παλεύουν. Αντιθέτως, δεν μπορώ να χωνέψω τους εφησυχασμένους, τους κατασταλαγμένους. Έχω πολύ λίγους ανθρώπους με τους οποίους κάνω παρέα. Με τα χρόνια οι άνθρωποι συμβιβάζονται, παραιτούνται και προσπαθούν με διάφορους τρόπους, με θρησκευτική πίστη ή μαντζούνια, να ξορκίσουν το μοιραίο. Αυτοί τώρα κατακάθονται, εγώ μονίμως αναταράσσομαι. ”

“Είμαι αρκετά μοναχικός άνθρωπος. Δεν κυκλοφορώ, δεν πηγαίνω σε εκδηλώσεις. Θα μπορούσα να είμαι ασκητής, αν δεν ήμουν τόσο αισθησιακός ασκητής. Είμαι ο άνθρωπος των αισθήσεων, πιστεύω ότι ο μόνος παράδεισος είναι ο παράδεισος των αισθήσεων. Δεν υπάρχει τίποτα άλλο. ”

Zorn's words of wisdom

“Your music is like your child, and your child is not you, it goes out there and makes its own life, it becomes its own thing, and you can't control or influence that.. Some people feel like their children have to become what THEY want them to be, become an extension of their own ego and if they becomes something different they feel like they're dissed or something. It's the same with music. A composition or a piece of film or anything after its finished begins its own life. It's only the finished product of your creativity and you don't have to identify with it more than that.”

- John Zorn

Seth Godin: The lizard brain

We say we want one thing, then we do another. We say we want to be successful but we sabotage the job interview. We say we want a product to come to market, but we sandbag the shipping schedule. We say we want to be thin but we eat too much. We say we want to be smart but we skip class or don't read that book the boss lent us.

The contradictions never end. When someone shows up and acts without contradiction, we're amazed. When an athlete just does the sport, or when a writer just writes the words, we can't help but watch, astonished at the purity of their actions. Why is it so difficult to do what we say we're going to do?

The lizard brain.

Article

I realize #21

Fuck creating a masterpiece.

or

Never try to create a masterpiece, because you will fail.

or

I thought I must create something great, something extraordinary. No, what I must do is create.

About sound

Sound itself is the instrument.

It seems like most composers today focus much more on the musical content or the process of their compositions and tend to somewhat neglect (or take for granted) all the other sound properties (and 'sound palette' options) that have more to do with sound rather than music.

It must not be forgotten that what is defined as music belongs, ultimately, to the whole realm of sound.

On the other hand, many composers choose to deal with specific sound properties or limit their focus by working with a specific number of compositional devices that they deem most valuable for their own personal concept of composition and/or self expression.

There is huge potential for expression in dealing with the most fundamental qualities of the sonority that constitutes a piece of music, namely dynamics, frequencies, timbres etc.

It is up to the composer (sound architect) to decide to to which degree he/she will become aware of and exert control over all the properties that are inherent in his/hers sound creation, from the choice of pitches and rhythm (that are most immediately associated with the word 'composer') to all the other less obvious properties and devices available to him.

It is useful to be aware for example of the sound properties that make Beethoven Beethoven or that make a certain recording of Beethoven's late quartets 'superior' to another, in one's search for the best execution of one's intentions.

Often times that means reducing unnecessary sound properties that do not support the whole in any essential way but rather detract from it by distracting the listener from the properties that form the backbone of the musical experience.

Some properties will matter more than others depending on the needs of a composition and its composer.

But they are there all the time and, whether they are perceived or not, they constitute the whole of the sound structure, like a tightly knit web.

Dealing with the sound experience of a composition and evaluating its effectiveness and impact according to a more 'holistic' approach where all sound properties are considered equally can provide fresh inspiration that can further augment its 'narrative', build upon it, add or subtract and ultimately make for a more rewarding experience.

Even those sound properties which are not significant in supporting a particular sound structure nevertheless have an effect, and a composer's job is at the least to make sure that none of them detracts from the intended sound structure (of course the 'ideal' would be to optimize all these properties so that they all contribute towards the a sound experience that is as close to the intended/imaginary sound structure as can be).

(e.g. A violinist who uses a particular bowing technique that does not yield a full, round, "cut-through-the-mix sound" when such a sound is required will result in detracting from the composer's intended sound and its intended effect upon the listener. Even the greatest orchestra in the world will provide a vastly different experience for the audience playing the same music in a great concert hall as opposed to a mediocre or poor concert hall.)

Rothko's words of wisdom

“It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as good painting about nothing. ”

- Mark Rothko
National Gallery of Art

Kurosawa's words of wisdom

“It is quite enough if a human being has but one field where he is strong. If a human being were strong in every field it wouldn't be nice for other people, would it?”

- Akira Kurosawa

I realize #20

Art will always benefit more those who possess a great imagination.

The higher the value of a work of art, the more it shall reward consistent application of the imagination on the receiver's part.

True art is never meant to be experienced passively; it acquires its potency through expressing the fundamental human experience common to all, but also being open and ambiguous enough for the individual to relate his own personal imagination, perception and experience.

Its content and expression are simultaneously primal and sophisticated.

The same cannot be said of entertainment.

Bertrand Russell said (almost) all there is to be said

Back in 1927, before atheism became so mainstream that it got its own t-shirt, Bertrand Russell was kicking Christianity's ass in his spare time.

What I particularly like about this essay :

1. It is still as valid and relevant as it was a century ago.
2. Essentially all the points Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens et al made a splash with a few years ago, boiled down to a few paragraphs.
3. Delivered in a matter-of-fact, casual way, devoid of the modern day atheist polemic.
4. Does n't try to convince anyone that religious belief is irrational. I simply assumes it to be.
5. Doesn't give religion more credit than it is due, either implicitly or explicitly.
6. Doesn't assume an offensive, or defensive position.

Tom Waits' words of wisdom

“It's very hard to stop doing things you're used to doing. You almost have to dismantle yourself and scatter it all around and then put a blindfold on and put it back together so that you avoid old habits.”

“This is about all the bad days in the world. I used to have some little bad days, and I kept them in a little box. And one day, I threw them out into the yard. "Oh, it's just a couple little innocent bad days." Well, we had a big rain. I don't know what it was growing in but I think we used to put eggshells out there and coffee grounds, too. Don't plant your bad days. They grow into weeks. The weeks grow into months. Before you know it you got yourself a bad year. Take it from me. Choke those little bad days. Choke 'em down to nothin'. They're your days. Choke 'em!”

- Tom Waits