The Autumn

The Autumn by Elisabeth Barrett Browning

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them
The summer flowers depart
Sit still - as all transform'd to stone,
Except your musing heart.
How there you sat in summer-time,
May yet be in your mind;
And how you heard the green woods sing
Beneath the freshening wind.
Though the same wind now blows around,
You would its blast recall;
For every breath that stirs the trees,
Doth cause a leaf to fall.

Oh! like that wind, is all the mirth
That flesh and dust impart:
We cannot bear its visitings,
When change is on the heart.
Gay words and jests may make us smile,
When Sorrow is asleep;
But other things must make us smile,
When Sorrow bids us weep!
The dearest hands that clasp our hands,
Their presence may be o'er;
The dearest voice that meets our ear,
That tone may come no more!
Youth fades; and then, the joys of youth,
Which once refresh'd our mind,
Shall come - as, on those sighing woods,
The chilling autumn wind.

Hear not the wind - view not the woods;
Look out o'er vale and hill
In spring, the sky encircled them
The sky is round them still.
Come autumn's scathe - come winter's cold
Come change - and human fate!
Whatever prospect Heaven doth bound,
Can ne'er be desolate.

What is Happiness?

Happiness can mean many different things to different people. Generally, happiness is understood as a state of mind that is associated with feelings ranging from satisfaction and comfort to bliss and intense joy.

People often believe that they will become happy when a particular event occurs in their lives: when they make enough money, meet the right partner, or get the right job...

It cannot be denied that things can make our lives more pleasant and less stressful. They can give us some degree of satisfaction and we may derive pleasure from things that we wanted very much and finally received, but such pleasure is momentary and never really lasts long enough to keep us perpetually happy. As the joy and excitement wear out, we experience the need for something that would give us at least as much satisfaction. We are in a hurry to replace the old things with new. We search for a new gratifying experience. This process repeats itself over and over and we end up in a vicious cycle always wanting more, but never receiving enough.

Unless we realize that things do not really make us happy, we may never be able to achieve genuine happiness. It is a predicament to expect happiness "out there" or to bind it to conditions. Things come and go and with them, more often than not, our "constructed" happiness.

Genuine happiness depends on our attitude. It is the way we think about life, the way we interpret our world and what is happening to us. It is the way we value more profound aspects of our existence that sets us apart from those looking for happiness outside of their own being.

Genuine happiness can be realized when we commit ourselves to making it our priority. We can learn to change our patterns of thought and the behavior that prevents us from being genuinely happy. It takes courage to look inside one's heart and to define ourselves anew. But without a thorough introspection we will never know who we really are and what things really mean to us.

It is up to us to learn "control" our attitude to life, the way we see ourselves or interpret what is happening in our lives. And unless we understand that we are responsible for our own happiness, we may never experience the bliss and joy that come with it.

By Dominique Allmon

What is Happiness by Dominique Allmon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

Irving Penn Dies at the Age of 92

Irving Penn, New York 1951

Irving Penn died on the 8th of October. He was one of the most prolific and influential photographers of the last century. He was famous for his fashion photographs, studies of everyday objects, depictions of other cultures as well as the elegant celebrity portraits. 

Irving Penn left behind a brilliant body of work that can be admired in his book "Passage: A Work Record." The book is forwarded by an essay from Penn's early years' mentor Alexander Liberman.

To read more click here

 

Woman with Roses, Paris 1950

Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn

Irving Penn's wife of 42 years

Image credits here and here