Maslow again

A little sketch I did on a whim after a sudden burst of inspiration that, like most of my sudden burst of inspiration lately, was fleeting. I was reading a blog entry by a fellow artist when I was struck with the idea. This is one of many blog entries written by artists who don't make quite enough with their art to sustain themselves day to day. Contrary to popular belief, artists do like to eat and as a result many of us who should be out taking photographs or playing an instrument on stage or tapping away on a keyboard, compiling a manuscript, are going into offices or shops and helping other people make money.

I'm really good at administration. I'm organised and efficient and I have a strong enough work ethic that even if I really, really don't care about what I'm doing, whilst I'm getting paid for it, I will do it to the best of my ability.

This aptitude I have for administration has landed me a relatively well-paid position in a charity. Everyone working there is lovely and the job itself is decent in that I'm making a contribution and not just pushing paper for some huge company. Whilst my hard work has lead to me making enough dosh that I can purchase canvases, get art imaged and stock up on other supplies, it leaves me with very little time to actually do the things I want do. And honestly, it's still not like I'm making some glorious sum which allows me the freedom to spend willy-nilly. I'm on a tight budget with time and money and it's all making me feel a bit robotic.

I get up early and on the walk down to the tube I usually find myself buzzing with ideas. Thoughts on looking up publishers, sending out manuscripts, seeking a gallery space, starting my next Tarot painting, starting an entirely new project, updating my blog and visiting museums whirl through my brain and add a spring to my step. The first few hours in the office I'm running on this feeling. I'm feeling zippy, full of ideas, full of creativity. I'm alone for the most part and I can tackle my to do list without interruption or distraction. I get emails and phone messages out of the way and delve into something creative. Something I've been storing up, like designing a pamphlet or certificate. My lovely co-workers trickle in, the rest of the country wakes up and the phone begins to ring. My inbox begins to fill.

Suddenly I'm pulled away from my creative task. It's shut and put aside whilst I stuff envelopes, write letters, prints documents and do data entry. My day becomes filled with these tasks, seemingly without end, until it's four o'clock and I'm free to go.

Its only a twenty minute tube ride home but when I get there the sun is already setting and my energy wanes with the disappearing light. This paints a bleak picture (pardon the pun) but I'm trying my best to remember that this is a spring board for other things. CS5 is on it's way and my line manager appreciates that I'm a creative soul.

I've got food, water, shelter, warmth. I feel safe and secure where I live. I'm loved both here and afar. For the most part, I feel pretty spiffy about myself. But I'm finding it extremely difficult at the moment (just at the moment, mind you) to get to the plateau where true self-fulfillment is found. Where I don't have to worry about making enough money to have all those lower levels met whilst also meeting that top level.

One day.

Maslow was on to something...

The sun has come out and birds are singing. It's a bright and gorgeous day without a rain cloud in sight. It's a day for sitting outside and painting...but before I go do that I figured I should write in my blog if only because I've got something I want to write about. When I make up my mind to write about something it needles it's way through my brain to my fingers until I can't help but sit down to type at my computer.

This particular thing of which I've been thinking about so often these past two days has come from the book I've been reading. I discovered a wonderful book called "The Psychology of Happiness" by Samuel S. Franklin. I don't find the book wonderful for having taught me anything particularly significant, indeed, it's only reinforced things which I already knew. I love this book because it explains so much of what I believe and how I live my life as a Buddhist without the Buddhism.

I know full well that people balk to hear someone talk about their spiritual beliefs and how they 'saved' that person. I know because I myself can feel how unreceptive I am. This is largely because no one likes being told how to live their life or that they are currently doing it in a 'wrong' way. In fact, no one can tell us how to live our lives and the decision is very much up to us to make. This is probably one of the scariest lessons to learn, but that's an entirely different matter and not what this entry is about.

This entry is about happiness and, to put it simply, The Meaning of Life. As humans we are seemingly always wondering what the definitive answer to the question 'Why Are We Here?'

is. Of course it's largely come to be accepted that the answer to that question is different for every single human being because we are not the same and cannot, nor should not want the same outcomes. Ultimately, however, we all want to be happy.

As a Buddhist I believe that through mindful practice and a sense of self-knowledge and exploration, happiness is not only easy to come by, but a state of mind that exists even when our lives are experiencing a sense of turmoil or upheaval. For me, happiness is about finding joy in the mere fact that I exist.

This is what the current book I'm writing is about, because I didn't always feel this way. I came to understand it and I happened to come to understand it through a solid belief that I am a Buddhist. Just as I know I am attracted to women or I know am an artist. How we come to find this sense of understanding is going to be different for all of us, but it is a place we all have the potential to reach.

So I'm reading 'The Psychologsy of Happiness' and in it, surprise, surprise, Samuel speaks of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. In school they did teach us about this hierarchy. It's significant, it needed mentioning. But I think that's all it got: a mention. There was no actual explanation of it in great depth and on top of that, the final point of the hierarchy was almost untouched. It was as if it was taught with the understanding that we couldn't hope to reach the last platform.

I think it was actually taught by people who didn't understand it. Often those who can't do, teach. I know I've been fourtunate to have teachers who are passionate about the knowledge they are bestowing and also passionate about the minds they are working with. I have had an abundance of teachers who have taught me well because they truly believed in my ability to learn...but none of the teachers who taught about Maslow fell into this category.

Whilst reading Samuel's book I found the chapter on Maslow to be the best explanation of why I live my life as I do. For those who can't recall or those who haven't seen it, the hierarchy begins with the most basic needs: Food, shelter, water.

When those are achieved an individual moves on to a sense of security, a sense of being free from fear.

Having the basic necessities covered and a sense of security in place we then seek love and belonging. We find community.

From community we begin to explore ourselves and accept who we are. With self esteem established we are suddenly on the perspex of something great:

Self Actualisation.

Whilst the levels before are general fixed in their places, Self Actualisation can slip and slide between each stage. The experiences we have all accumulate to create a greater sense of who we are and why we exist, but when we do feel that every other level is accomplished Self Actualisation becomes inevitable.

It is upon reaching this inevitability that the best in us comes forth and it is here that we find our Einsteins, to use the example given in the book.

It is because I am well fed, warm, safe, loved and love myself that I make the time to paint, write, and explore.

I feel hugely lucky for it and as a Buddhist it is also my belief that I can contribute to helping others find this place. So on this bright and beautiful spring day in London I am sending the world Metta, as I often do.

May you be happy.

May you love yourself.

May you have ease of mind.

May you have strength of spirit.

And may you take every opportunity afforded you with an open heart and mind.