Creative. Social. Motivated.
Much of a person’s adult life is dedicated to the pursuit of happiness. As we get older, contentment doesn’t naturally arise within us like it so easily does in children. In fact, it’s not long before joy becomes just another thing we’re trying to make happen.
Meditation teacher Tara Brach says human beings should be reclassified as human doings. Most of us have so many deadlines to manage and boxes to check off our lists that we forget to pause and enjoy our lives. We miss the beauty inherent in all things: the eyes of a baby, the blue skies of summer, the green grass. Happiness isn’t something we must pursue; it’s a feeling we must remember.
Like the writer Haruki Murakami notes, “Memories warm us up from the inside out.”
We get by with a little help from our friends.
In this week’s edition of Virtual Heart-to-Heart, we caught up with our in-house art appraiser Jane St. Lifer. We asked Jane how she stays creative, social and motivated amidst so much uncertainty.
Below, Jane offers us a fresh take on our series. Though she doesn’t do anything to stay CSM per se. the glimpse she offers us into her daily routine still feels both familiar and inspiring.
Those of us who live alone in a one-bedroom apartment during this quarantine know how much we cherish our surroundings. My space is like a hotel room, it is less than 10 steps from the bathroom to the bedroom to the kitchen.
My “Corona Day” starts in my Aunt Gloria’s wing chair. This is a 1970’s, paisley design in day glow yellow, brown and chocolate, now slipcovered in white. Here I have my first cup of coffee and watch the lifeless-life on West 71st Street. I get a snapshot view of the constant flow of the Hudson River. I take the time to journal and meditate.
Most of my day is spent in my newest red desk chair (also with a white slipcover). My dear friend Maria’s cousin overbought and thought I needed a comfortable desk chair. In the corner of my bedroom is my desk that was given to me by my neighbor when she was moved. It’s a large sturdy table that has room for my laptop, an oversized 40-inch monitor, a telephone, a file box, colored pencils and my father’s electric pencil sharpener. Here in my office are calendars, a clock, notebooks, and my white board that has numerous color-coded notes and plenty of magnetic clips, hanging with more reminders.
After work I watch TV, my favorite shows Jeopardy and PBS in my grandmother Sarah’s cozy 1940’s arm chair. This chair has had several transformations, now a white floral slipcover. My final seat is my mother Marcia’s lounge chair for reading very late into the night.
But I must not forget probably my favorite, the tall bar chairs I found in “Trump Trash.” Those were the days I had my appraisal office in a Trump apartment building, and my late husband Steve would find incredible garbage. Yes, even cash, hence the name “TT.” Those stools, which I re-covered in a happy, colorful oil cloth, are where I consume all my food and a glass of wine.
And that is how I stay CSM (Creative, Social, Motivated) during the 2020 pandemic.
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