Shopping Trip!

Hey –

This week I read the introduction for Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee. Her TED talk is what inspired me to tackle this project in the first place! The second I held the book in my hand, I knew I would enjoy it. The front cover is adorned with colorful confetti and praise from dozens of authors. I began reading the first chapter, which discussed the three elements of aesthetic joy and why conventional wisdom about achieving happiness is flawed. We have always been told that “joy comes from within” and that materialistic things can never elicit true happiness. Lee challenges this belief; from Christmas lights to sunsets on the beach, humans are wired to derive happiness from tangible objects. In fact, she highlights the three patterns she notices among items that bring people joy. Objects with roundness, saturated color, and radial symmetry seem to universally produce happiness. Hmmm… this resonated quite a bit with what I am trying to incorporate into my mural. Bright principle hues and a symmetric design are exactly what I’m going to employ!

I also continued to work on my design – I’ve attached some images below.

Finally, my external advisor and I went shopping for the materials I would need to create my mural at Home Depot and Michaels. We bought wooden boards, frames, white paint, nails, and multicolored yarn. At Home Depot, there was this really cool machine that sliced the wooden boards to the necessary dimensions. I could’ve watched that machine forever (very satisfying!).

Thanks for reading this week!

love this machine :,)