Value your happiness

Today’s card from the Art of Life Inspiration Deck. The painting is
DANCE WITH LIFE

250 mm x 600mm Encaustic, oil crayon, pastel, mixed media on board.

People often ask me, ‘Where do you get your inspiration?” In this case, it was the lyrics below and the quest to bring more joy during the early days of the pandemic.

“There’s no brilliance like beauty out there

No knowledge as wise as the heart

We all need reason to care

I need to dance with life

Sweep you away into the night

When there is no one else around

I will make every day count

We need to dance with life

Swim in the soul of your eyes

’til we melt into the night

We need to dance with life

And we leave a brilliant light behind.”

~ Bryan Ferry


I still recall the happiness and joy this painting gave to her new owner who fell in love with it and purchased it instantly a few days after I opened my art gallery during the lockdown. Donna calls it her “happy painting.” It still gives me a thrill knowing how much happiness Dance with Life created and still creates in her life.

You may enjoy this video where Donna shares why this painting sparked joy


https://youtu.be/sT_IjZZmaOs


How can you swim in bubbles of joy? Maybe it’s by commissioning a joyful piece of art from me. LOL


https://www.thejoyfulartist.co.nz/commissions/


https://shop.cassandragaisford.com/product/the-art-of-life-inspiration-deck/


Sometimes dancing with life can feel like a slog. There’s so much to bog us down. What can I do? I ask myself when I feel low. Throw my heart into my dreams and pursue the things that make me happy. I know from the times I have coached and counselled people who are depressed, stressed and suicidal that recalling the things that make us happy can feel hard to do—if not impossible. 

This is why I’ve created a “what makes me happy?” list in Evernote. Here’s a sample from this list in no particular order

Autonomy
Baking
Bees
Being appreciated
Beeswax painting
Being cared for
Caring for others
Cheerleading others
Coaching, uplifting, encouraging
Creating Beauty
Creating
Creating bespoke commissions that make people’s. hearts sing
Disneyland
Donald and Daisy Duck
Home building sites.




For example, it was super uplifting to visit the building site of a couple who visited me in the happy gallery (my studio – art@rangitane). They are looking to commission a ‘landscape from my mind” to grace the walls of their soon-to-be-completed home.

I love, love, love creating bespoke art for beautiful homes. Recently a couple came up to me to tell me how important the two paintings they commissioned from me in 2020 were to their lives and how much joy they brought to them and their friends.

That makes me happy!



Festival of Colour, 2020, Cassandra Gaisford 


What makes you happy?

You may recall that I spent many grieving moments following my mum’s sudden death recording the audio version of the second book in my bestselling Midlife Career Rescue Trilogy, What Makes You Happy. It was the perfect book to narrate, as it contains a whole chapter about all the creative career changes my mother made. Plus there’s loads of tips to uplift and inspire others too.

Available and Audio, eBook, Paperback and Hardback Amazon: getBook.at/MakeYouHappy

Kobo (audio):https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/mid-life-career-rescue-what-makes-you-happy-1

Audible
US: https://www.amazon.com/Midlife-Career-Rescue-Confidently-Mid-Life/dp/B0BGJPDRL5

UK: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Midlife-Career-Rescue-Audiobook/B0BGJSMZ2T

AU:https://www.audible.com.au/pd/Midlife-Career-Rescue-Audiobook/B0BGJLF373

https://www.thejoyfulartist.co.nz/mid-life-career-rescue-what-makes-you-happy/



Play with me!

If life has you by the horns, or you’re feeling low, and you would like to seize joyful control and create a plan to be more creative, elevate your life, start a creative business, or reinvent your career, that’s exactly what we do in a two-hour intensive Zoom call.

Details here


Have a joyful day—and don’t forget to play!

Posted in: Blog