Smile, it’s Happy Living day #3!

A Short Short Story

She was raised swimming and it made her smile when she was able to afford a pool when she grew up.  She loved cats and it made her smile when her cat would come and play with her.  It made her smile to drink her favorite coffee when she sat out in the late morning.  She was happy living.  The End

Holiday Time

The Holiday season is a great time to do create a world that makes you smile.  My friend Danielle, the force behind Extraordinarymommy.com, posted this photo the other day. The caption that went with it read, “I have moved my office into the family room… I want to embrace every minute of this view…”

Danielle Smith’s Family Room at Christmas Time

Why was that? Because the view made her smile.  Obviously she and her family live a comfortable and well-off life.  But that is not the key to the happiness this room gives her.  The key is the love that went into it, not the money.

Humble is no Excuse

Very early on in my first marriage, we lived in a 90 year old rental house in downtown San Jose, California.  Most of our furniture was old, hand me down furniture.  But we still were able to make the space warm, welcoming and pleasing.  We had a really old trunk I bought for $3.00 at a garage sale in San Francisco as our coffee table.  It had brass hardware on it. I took the hardware off and polished it to a high sheen. It made a big difference in the look of the trunk. It made me happy to put my feet up on it. 

We weren’t able to do everything we wanted to the house or have all the furniture we wanted, but what we had we made as beautiful as we could.

Suburbs Are No Excuse

Years later, after we moved to Oklahoma and could afford a nice, big house,  my first wife and I divorced. I retained ownership of the house and our daughter’s lived with me during the school year, since their mother had moved out of the school district. During the summer they lived mostly at her house. I took advantage of having them gone most of the summer to paint the inside of the house.  I painted it red, gold, and cream.  Sound crazy? I loved it. It made me happy.

Our home 1994-2006, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

I added black spots to my white picket fence so it matched my dalmatian, Oreo. That made me smile and it made the neighborhood kids smile.

Oreo and the Barking Fence

I remodeled my kitchen, taking out a dropped ceiling. After I was almost done I still had some holes in the ceiling where electrical and other things had come through.  I decided that instead of fixing the holes in the traditional way I would cover them by hot gluing the ceramics my daughters had created in elementary school onto the ceiling. My kitchen ceiling became a permanent art gallery.  That made me smile and it made my daughters smile.  No, none fell down.

My Daughters’ Ceramic Gallery

Crazy Artist Type

I know what you are thinking, ‘Marty, that’s fine for you, you are the crazy artist type and can get away with that stuff. But not me.’  You would be surprised what you can do if you decide it’s is worth doing.  The idea, no matter what level of creativity you have, is to create a physical world that makes you smile. Do it a bit at a time, as you can afford it and as circumstances allow, and it will add to your happy living. Don’t settle for a world that doesn’t make you smile.

What have you designed or experienced that makes you smile?

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Love – The Napkin’s Guide to Happy Living #1

Courage – The Napkin’s Guide to Happy Living #2

Smiling – The Napkin’s Guide to Happy Living #3

Education – The Napkin’s Guide to Happy Living #4

Transformation – The Napkin’s Guide to Happy Living #5

Judging – The Napkin’s Guide to Happy Living #6

Expression – The Napkin’s Guide to Happy Living #7

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Drawing and Guide by Marty Coleman, who isn’t above framing postcards that make him smile.

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