Happiness Is...WALKING

by Susan on Sunday, March 24, 2013

What a wonderful day - twenty people arrived to walk up a hill with Leah Rosenberg and me at Montalvo Arts Center. It was pretty special to see everyone eager to participate in such a simple activity.

Before heading up to the lookout, we planted California poppies, Tidy Tips, Pride of Madiera and Phacelia Gradiflora in Leah’s Seed Confetti bed.

When Leah and I met about six months ago to talk about developing this walk around happiness, we were actually struggling with this word - happiness. At the time, the idea of happiness occupied a very particular space and set of associations for us.

What did interest us, however, was the clumsy, challenging and surprising space of pursuing happiness – things like process, learning, and moving forward. Turns out, this is what happiness is for us. Yes, it can be a burst of elation, but it is also a journey – which includes everything from falling in love to failing in something you love.

I think Leah’s Seed Confetti is a lovely example of this. She gives us the opportunity to plant the colorful paper seed strips and then anticipate what beauty they will bring - it’s a long term investment. I love the idea that people will return here and see the flowers blooming in this bed.

IMG_2277

After we planted the flowers, we passed out color buttons - each person selected a color that would remind her of an intention for the walk.

IMG_2642

IMG_2638

Then we walked up the hill silently, and saw the nine signs I installed along the way.

IMG_2658

IMG_2676

IMG_2688

Finally after working up a sweat, we arrived at the lookout, where we broke our silence and had a surprise party. Leah made a beautiful cake for the occasion. The cake reflected the favorite colors of the group from a survey we sent to participants prior to the walk. We marveled at the view and the cake.

20130323_120816

Leah served the gorgeous cake to each of us.

Image by Michele Guieu

Image by Michele Guieu

happiness_micheleguieu_11

Image by Michele Guieu

We couldn’t have been happier.

IMG_2713

Many thanks to Lauren Baines, Michele Guieu, Jason Disterhoft and Tim Caro-Bruce for taking photos. And most importantly, thanks to everyone who joined us for this experience.

All content © Copyright 2021 by the estate of Susan O'Malley