#100happydays or 100 days of Snap-happiness!

Earlier this week, a friend mentioned that she was entering the challenge of sharing 100 happy days on Instagram.

Another friend had made a new year commitment on her blog to count something as well as to write for 20 minutes per day.  "If you count something interesting to you, I tell you: you will find something interesting."

Both of these were good reminders to me. Research into positive psychology shows that appreciating things and events around you improves not only your attitude towards happiness, but also your resilience. Given the impact of the persistent and pervasive negative news with which we're constantly bombarded, I suspect many of us need an antidote!

The good news is that happiness is a skill which can be cultivated. It's important to clarify, the happiness we're speaking of isn't the vacuous rah rah, everything is fine and everything will be fine, saccharine sweet emptiness that makes one want to gag.

"Happiness is about living a full, rich and meaningful life - the kind of life we'd all like our children to live. But happiness levels fluctuate considerably," said Dr Grant.  

Happiness is made up of psychological wellbeing, such as how much meaning and engagement you have in your life and subjective wellbeing, which is about how you think about the world and how you feel about yourself. " 

We have a significant amount of influence on how happy we are - the choices we make on a daily basis determine our happiness," explained Dr Grant. 

Dr Russ Harris (who along with Dr Anthony Grant was involved with the ABC TV show called Making Australia Happy), also says that living a rich full and meaningful life includes embracing your demons, not avoiding, fighting or denying them! There's far more in The Happiness Trap including free resources.

Dr Anthony Grant, together with Alison Leigh, have shared their Eight top tips for living a more meaningful and fulfilling life. Step 5 is most relevant for the 100 day photo happiness challenge.

Practise gratitude
When we take the time to feel grateful, to appreciate things and to express that feeling of appreciation in some way, life seems to be better. Appreciating something involves taking the time to notice it and then acknowledging its value and meaning, as well as feeling a positive emotional connection to it. 

But back to the #100happydays challenge!  Counting something sounds a little odd at first, but ... I'm going to count to 100, and for the next 100 days I aim to post a photo on Instagram of something I appreciate or which makes me happy - username traverselife_au using the hashtags #100happydays and #onegoodthing and I invite anyone reading this to join me and share what it is that you're grateful for or which makes you happy.

Feel free to share the username and hashtag/s you'll use in the comment section :-)

Finally, it's important to remember that if you aim to improve your happiness, that lack of sleep, poor diet and lack of exercise will play a significant role in your wellbeing. It is "hard to feel energised or happy on minimal sleep or a diet of cola and pizza!" (here)

Happiness is ... a puppy with a bone ;-)

Street performers - sometimes creepy, always entertaining!

Have you heard the expression

"The job was handed to him on a plate"?

This probably wasn't what you were thinking of ...

photo credit: D.Watson

or perhaps the performer had received advice on

"How to get ahead in your career"!

photo credit D.Watson

Are you talking about me behind my back?

photo credit: D.Watson

Various careers require excellent balance and poise, though some might say of this man -

"He was sitting down on the job"

Bad puns I know, but street performers seem to bring that out in me ;-)

Seriously though, these artists are worth their weight in gold (oh dear there's another one) and I have huge admiration for them; I also thoroughly enjoy watching the audience discussing the show and trying to work out how it's done.

The performer above not only managed to hold the pose, and cross and uncross his legs, but maintained his composure when one woman practically crawled under him to look up at his bottom to see how he was "magically" sitting in thin air!

A tiny stage, some props and confidence
-  almost all you need to begin!

These modern day performers providing walk-by entertainment are following in the footsteps of an age old form of employment and although the costumes and makeup might be different from what was seen hundreds of years ago, they still need to pull an audience and encourage them to give money, to enable them to make a living.

A fine Jazz group on the Charles Bridge in Prague are not only performing, but selling CDs to an appreciative audience.

A delightfully random piano recital at a railway station ...

Prague.

This gentleman's kit included a quality sound system but unfortunately there were very few passers-by when I saw him.

Ulm. Germany

All jobs have their particular challenges and street performers are no exception. I found myself wondering how a job advertisement for a mime artist would be worded:

The position

This free-lancing job provides a daily adrenaline rush, inconsistent hours and unpredictable income. You'll be your own boss and must have good planning and financial management to sustain you during the lean times. There is the potential to be 'discovered' and take the world by storm. Would suit a person who thrives on unpredictability, works well alone and has the ability to think on their feet.

Key selection criteria

• Excellent body control
• The ability to remain motionless for extended periods of time
• Proven ability to engage the attention of a distractible, fickle audience
• The ability to engage people of different ages and nationalities and encourage them to part with money, using only gestures and facial expression - ie outstanding non-verbal skills
• Enjoy working at different ourdoor locations (known as a pitch) and able to assess pedestrian traffic to gain maximum exposure with as few other distractions as possible
• Desire to work in varied and changeable weather conditions
• Have a repertoire of poses to deflect hecklers and those determined to get a reaction
• Self belief and confidence
• Skills with make up and costume design
• A willing accomplice to assist with the set up and dismantling of the equipment
• Be prepared to put in a lot of time "out of hours" to fine tune the act
• 
  
• ... and most of all, excellent bladder control is vital or you'll be scampering in a most un-angel-like way, down from your pedestal, intent on finding a suitable location to find 'relief'.

More information for those wanting to enter the profession: 

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Money-Busking-(Street-Performing)

http://www.myjobsearch.com/careers/street-performer.html

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