Joy – And The 2012 Phenomenon

At the risk of sounding like a gospel choir from Harlem (which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing), I thought I'd do an addendum post on joyous and inspirational things.

Further to the last post on Happiness, here are a few cheeky ideas and images to keep you cheerful for the rest of the week. Cos God knows we all need a little inspiration.

Be happy. Don't forget the world is supposed to end on December 21 with the 2012 Phenomenon. (I only realised the Mayan connection with the numbers the other week – 122112; clearly I'm not a mathematician.) So if you haven't done everything you've wanted to do in life, you now have slightly less than 3 months to do it!

Better get cracking people.

Here are some suggestions for a memorable last three months.

GET CREATIVE

We love a bit of DIY in our house. I'll make anything – ottomans, curtains, chaise longues. Our house is dangling by a thread, but that doesn't matter. There is nothing as pleasurable as getting your hands dirty, in my DIY opinion. Now we just need to make ourselves a bomb shelter, if the 2012 Phenomenon is to be believed... (NB Hermès handbag project found here.)

SEE AN INSPIRATIONAL EXHIBITION

‘Doris Duke’s Shangri La’ has just opened at New York's Museum of Arts and Design, and it's certain to be an eye opener. The New York Times did an article on it, entitled 'Treasures of an Heiress From a Personal Paradise', found here. It's one of dozens of great exhibitions showing in London, Manhattan, Paris and Sydney this year. 'Eugène Atget: Old Paris' is another, now showing at the Art  Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney. Lose yourself in the beauty of old Paris with more than 200 rare and original prints from the founder of documentary photography. I fell in love with photography at the age of 10 when I picked up a book on Mr Atget. Few have matched him since.

MAKE A HOME-MADE VIDEO OF YOUR LIFE

We tried doing one in New York but I got distracted by the shop windows. (I think that's called Sartorial ADD?) You will no doubt do a much better job. Here's a beautiful example, one of my  favourites, called Kiki and Coco in Paris, here. 

WATCH A CLASSIC MOVIE

Or, even better, start collating a library of classic DVDs.

COLLECT VINTAGE BOOKS

...So we can save them from oblivion. 

(Plus they'll give us something interesting to read when we're all together in the bomb shelter for the next few years. See 2012 Phenomenon reference, above.)

MAKE A TRAVEL WISH LIST

Whenever we visit my parents (my mother is recovering well,  by the way; thanks for your beautiful messages), we marvel at the map on their powder room wall. It's a map of the world criss-crossed with the hundreds of trips they've done. 

If you haven't been out of your comfort zone lately, do consider it. We're contemplating Siem Reap for a week in January (if the world is still here). Even my home-loving Virgo hubster is happy to go. Colonial architecture, the French Quarter and the famous Angkor ruins... How much more exotic can you get? {Images by Tim Walker}

TAKE MORE PHOTOS

I'm the worst culprit for not taking casual photos. Sometimes I can't bear to pick up a camera to take  happy snaps after doing a day of professional shoots. But I read recently that photo albums make you happy. Imagine being 79 and looking back on your happy snaps? I think it would stop me from falling into my G&T.

TAKE MORE PHOTOS OF YOUR LOVED ONES

See above. 

Look – even Lillian Bassman is acquising to a portrait. Love that camera Lil.

READ MORE BIOGRAPHIES

Sometimes reading about others makes us feel less inadequate. Just look at Zelda Fitzgerald, poor love. I've been reading Edith Wharton's. Such an inspiration. 

LAUGH

Have you seen the cute twitters from The Honest Toddler yet?  {Just go to: twitter.com/HonestToddler} Some of them are very funny.  "If I lost at the Emmys I'd still go up and collect my trophy. Fastest one gets it." Someone give him a book deal.

BE HAPPY FOR OTHERS

I dislike people who take great delight in putting down other people. What's that all about?  I'm thrilled when someone achieves their dream, or even strives for it, and has a little quiet moment of happiness at how far they've come. The Tall Poppy Syndrome needs to be abolished, in my opinion. This year, I've been quietly applauding Justine Picardie. She had a horrendous life there for a while, then wrote her way to happiness with a bestseller about Chanel. Then she met  – and married – the love of her life in Scotland. (An Astor no less.) And, if all THAT wasn't joyous enough, she's just been given the editorship of UK Harper's Bazaar, which she's just started this month.  I'm so thrilled for her. Truly. It could not have happened to a nicer person. {justine-picardie.blogspot.com.au} Oh – And did I mention her dress was a couture Chanel? It was courtesy of Karl himself for writing such a superb biography. 

Before the wedding, the fitting in Paris...

So, as some of you will have guessed, my wedding dress was by Chanel -- and it was perfect. I have never loved a dress as much as this one: for its simplicity, as well as its complexity. It had to be cream silk, rather than white – I'm not a virgin bride – and sufficiently sophisticated for a grownup occasion, while also appropriate to a country wedding. Above all, it represented so much of the circuitous journey that has taken me from sadness to joy; navigated by Mademoiselle Chanel herself, a woman who understood how clothes can bestow dignity to those who have felt broken, while also giving a lightness of touch to the most emotional of episodes.         

INTRODUCE COLOUR INTO YOUR LIFE

Apparently white is returning as a trend. Please God, no. We've just started embracing the joys of blues, greens, tangerines and reds. Look at this street's efforts! How stylish. The sight of these early on a Monday morning as I drove to work would certainly make me happy.

Look, one person's even taken the designer rubbish thing to extremes. I wonder if it smells like leather too?