More Than Happiness

I’ve been working on a new photography project and finding both frustration and joy in the process. True joy is

More Than Happiness

Joy is inexpressibly more than happiness,

Happiness befalls people; happiness is fate,

while people cause joy to bloom inside themselves.

Joy is plainly a good season for the heart;

joy is the ultimate achievement of which human beings are capable.

— Rilke

For me, the creative process is one of trial and error. I have an idea and then I begin trying to express that idea through my photography. Often I fail again and again to express the idea I have imagined. But it doesn’t matter, because simply engaging in the creative process brings me joy.

My efforts may never bring acclaim but my regular discipline of doing the work  is enough. I see the world through eyes of gratitude and appreciation. And even when I cannot find my way to the vision that I have in my mind, I am learning and growing.

Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing—and keeping the unknown always beyond you.
   ― Georgia O’Keefe

Joy is a Subversive Force

Each of us has things inside that are unlike anyone else. And if we express those things the world is a richer place, I think. It is always my hope that the beauty I seek to see and share will bring joy and appreciation to someone. That and the joy I feel as I create are enough for me.

How about you? What things inside yourself do you want to bring out to share with the world? Can you commit to doing one thing in the coming week that will bring you joy?

May you walk in beauty.