“It is rare that happiness alights just so on the desire that called for it.”
Marcel Proust
There has been a lot of research devoted to the subject of happiness. website like this The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “feeling or showing contentment or pleasure.” Sociologists define it as “the overall quality of one’s life.” For Saint Augustine happiness is “a rejoicing in the truth.” To me, happiness is being in harmony with myself and the world. It is a state of grace and inner peace. It has to be cultivated so as not to be fleeting. It is living an authentic and meaningful life and in the words of Joseph Campbell it is “following one’s bliss.”
Yesterday I took a drive to the village of Le Fréchou. I had seen a poster announcing a pastel exhibition and wanted to see it before it closed. Along winding roads I traveled until reaching the 13th century, Chateau du Fréchou, in the Pays de Albret, an area some 45 minutes away from the gite (self catering rooms) I had rented in the village of Mauvezin d’Arnagnac.
The owners of the chateau, Monsieur and Madame Poupault, have followed their bliss, alone and together, for the last 40 years after purchasing the property which was in a state of utter decay.
He has painstakingly restored the chateau, stone by stone, while also following his passion for collecting rare, historic textiles. She has been a pastel artist since she was 15, training under Ferdinand David of the Barbizon school of painting, L’Ecole d’Harpignies, in the Haute Provence.
Trompe l’oeil doorway.
Second floor hallway.
Second floor still life.
Third floor bedroom.
Hallway niches.
Fourth floor great room and textile studio.
Our lives are precious. We know they will not last forever. Ask yourself what you want out of life. Do what you love to do. Cultivate happiness.
