BBC Bristol, David Cameron, General Well Being, happy cows, Ministry of Happiness
In happiness on June 29, 2009 at 10:45 am
Let’s start this mini-investigation with one of the first sites I often visit each day. The good old BBC News website.
A happiness search in the news and sport section yields:
An article about how sisters make each other happy. 2 April 09
A study from the USA about how happiness is infectious (it rubs off on other people). 5 December 08
A local news piece from BBC Bristol about how some people there are very happy, while others are cripplingly lonely. 1 December 08
Newcastle University say that happy cows produce more milk than unhappy ones. 28 January 09
A very readable comment piece about happiness in the economic downturn and whether our politicians should be paying more attention to making us happy in the recession. The piece features David Cameron’s suggestion that if we valued General Well Being (GWB) as much as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), we might not have got into such a mess in the first place. There are some great responses from readers, including the suggestion that a Ministry of Happiness be established! 9 October 08
happiness, results, search engine
In happiness on June 28, 2009 at 8:19 am
As part of my ongoing research project into the nature of happiness and what it means to us today is having a bit of an experimental week.
Given that I’m seeking out a wide variety of responses to and definitions of the concept of happiness, I regularly tap the H-word into search engines and wait for the smorgasbord of results to spring forth before me. There’s always quite a surprising range of answers. So, for the rest of this week I’m going to present the results of what I’ve found on different websites – I could have chosen any sites, but I went for pretty mainstream sites that I use on a regular basis. I’ll update the results each day.
What use is this? Well, the findings might not necessarily be indicative of what happiness means to us – it’s just some content I’ve pulled off the web, after all – but they might be food for thought in my ongoing investigations. We’ll see …
I will list here the top results from searches using the search engine on a particular site. If prompted, I’ll ask for the engine to give me results by relevance, rather than by date. I’m after the subject matter, not necessarily the most recent material.
Sue King, fused glass, Cockpit Arts, Maker Difference
In Dulwich OnView, new content on June 26, 2009 at 9:15 am
From my study, I see over the fence into my next-door neighbour’s back garden. I’ve long admired the striking glass sculptures which adorn her lovely garden. Sue King makes stunning fused glass pieces herself. Last weekend I took a trip to her studio in Deptford – part of the Cockpit Arts open weekend where the public are allowed in to nosy around the studios and buy artworks from designer-makers.
There’s a brilliant vibe in the studios and they are proud to be an incubator of creativity. Artists renting there don’t simply get a space in which to practise when they pay their fees – they get business support and commercial encouragement too. It’s like a community in there. They even have a manifesto, called Maker Difference, which encourages us not to buy objects d’art from Habitat or Heal’s, but to go and meet artists and get something completely unique. It’s inspirational stuff.
I was so impressed with the studios and with Sue’s work that I wrote a piece about it for Dulwich OnView, which went live this morning.
Lost Southwark, south London, local history, Cuming Museum
In Dulwich OnView, Museums, new content on June 12, 2009 at 10:40 am
There’s a new exhibition of paintings, etchings, drawings, maps and all sorts of 2D material chronicling the history of Southwark life and architecture at the Cuming Museum in south London. Popped along to see it last week and to write a piece of Dulwich OnView about it. Lost Southwark is definitely worth a look if you live in south London and are interested in local history.
Anna Cutler, Gillian Wilson, Tate Modern, TM2
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on June 10, 2009 at 2:17 pm
I wrote a piece a few months ago about the proposed developments at the back of Tate Modern. Turns out Tate got planning permission for the new extension which will rise eleven storeys high from the back of the existing building.
I went back to Tate Modern last week to interview Anna Cutler (Head of Learning) and Gillian Wilson (Curator of Interpretation) about what they’re up to now. We chatted about the content planned for TM2 and the interpretive thinking about their audiences that’s going into the project. Their plans sound really exciting – there’ll be a wider variety of interpretive devices in the TM2 – something for everyone.
The resulting article is live on Museum [Insider] now.
dulwich, Gail Gosschalk, Paris, artists
In Dulwich OnView, new content on June 5, 2009 at 10:32 am
Just posted a lovely little interview on Dulwich OnView with a local artist, Gail Gosschalk, who now lives in Paris. She’s back in Dulwich this weekend to show some of her work in an exhibition.
The way she describes her work makes me want to follow suit. I could easily live in Paris, sipping coffee and penning articles at whim. What a life that would be ….
Commonwealth Institute, Design Museum, Kensington, relocation
In Museum [Insider], Museums, new content on June 4, 2009 at 8:25 am
There are plenty of rumours around at the moment about the Design Museum and their potential change of venue in the not too distant future. But who knows what’s fact and what’s merely flotsam and jetsam on the museum industry drinks circuit?
Gossip ferret here had a little look around and wrote a piece about the potential move to the former home of the Commonwealth Institute in Kensington for Museum [Insider].
breast cancer, Professor Penny Hopwood, psychiatrist
In happiness, new content on June 3, 2009 at 2:43 pm
I’ve just completed another interview as part of my ongoing research project into the meaning of happiness.
Professor Penny Hopwood is a psychiatrist and has spent the last 25 years working solely with patients who are undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She must have met a wide variety of people over the years and heard some amazing stories. I was certain that helping people through those experiences must have given her a pretty unique perspective on what it means to be happy.
Of course, she can’t talk about her patients, and I’d never expect her to, but she did give me an enlightening interview, in terms of how the mental state of a cancer patient is cared for and also her own individual very personal response to happiness.
Read the interview in the happiness pages of this website, here.
Penny has been a family friend for many years and I’m really grateful to her for taking part in the project.
