I had a lovely chat with a dear old friend from college, Matt Shlian, on Sunday. I originally contacted him with questions concerning self publishing but our conversation quickly turned to our respective ideas on the Pursuit of Happiness. We talked briefly about the Harvard Professor of Psychology, Paul Ben-Shahar and his pop positive-psychology book, “Happier.” What are the elements of happiness? Does happiness exist in the intersection of pleasure and meaning like Ben-Shahar suggests, a constant dance of desire and need fluctuating throughout one’s life? Is happiness truly a pursuit, a life long goal, or can happiness be found in the mindful moment as Buddhism teaches? Ultimately, Matt and I came to the conclusion that we both need to keep or day jobs, at least until we are ready to truly Live The Dream. Whatever that is.
However, it has long been a dream of mine to self publish a book and that dream, thanks to the internets and some money saved in the bank, is achievable. I have a ton of work to do in the next few months — I’m shooting for a release date of late June. So far, this book is shaping up to be a limited edition photography monograph, a project in itself rather than a portfolio of previous work. A collaboration, perhaps? Maybe 2010 is my monsoon season after years of mindless, depressive drought. Watch for updates, friends.
