Monday 20 November 2017

Eudaimonia - Joan Lennon

This is how it seems to me.  Writing is a job of work.  There are moments of inspiration and miracle, but they're the extra bits and can only be welcomed, not scheduled.  When I'm very, very sad, I can't write, I can't remember writing and I can't imagine ever writing again.  When I'm only very sad, I long to write again.  When I'm just sad, I can write and it's the thing that makes other things bearable.  So when someone put me on to this short video about eudaimonia, I thought, "Interesting." * 


Happiness is a pleasure to experience but not a prerequisite for this writing job.  That's how it seems to me, any way.

What do you think?  


I also thought, "Those are REALLY UGLY papier-mache figures!" 


Joan Lennon's website.
Joan Lennon's blog.
Walking Mountain.



4 comments:

Penny Dolan said...

An interesting dimension that maybe you can take on more easily when you're not feeling really, really sad.

ps Those figures ARE ugly. Not sure if they're like that to emphasise that that not everything is beauty and loveliness - or if they are just made that way.

Susan Price said...

Penny, I thought exactly the same - why did it have to be so ugly?

Interesting idea, though. I did a bit of googling around 'eudamonia' and came up with the idea of 'right action' and living by the right action. Which is big in Bhuddism too. In fact, a lot of Greek philosophy seems to be Bhuddism in other words. Were the Greeks Bhuddists? I think we should be told.

Ann Turnbull said...

I've been reading Marcus Aurelius, and it sounds like some of his ideas, too. I don't think many of the Roman emperors were Buddhists, though.

I never like papier mache.

sara gethin said...

Very interesting video, despite the models. Thanks for sharing, Joan.