Author: Artist Rafi Perez

Have you ever begrudgingly wondered how some people manage to make being happy look easy? You think, it’s probably genetic, luck, or they’re just too ignorant about life to worry incessantly like a real adult. Honestly, the reason it looks easy, is because it is much easier to be happy than most of us think. A lot of us have the tendency to think that happiness requires a giant shift in our lives. We either think we need a big fat bank account or to find ourselves on a mountaintop somewhere. We tend to make happiness this complicated unattainable thing that requires habits, routines, and balance. Honestly, it is so simple that it’s almost embarrassing. Here are 16 simple ways you can enjoy your life more, starting today!

1. Focus on you, yourself and I

You, take care of you and follow your bliss. People will have their opinions, demands and suggestions. They will share these demands, opinions and suggestions. They may argue their demands, opinions and suggestions. They will lovingly express their demands, opinions and suggestions. Ultimately, however, it’s you, and you alone, that will have to live with the decisions you make in your life. Focus on what makes you happy.

2. Create time to relax

Relax, take time to just hang out with yourself and clear your mind.

3. Avoid the news

It’s easy to get sucked into public drama, gossip, or world catastrophes = online and offline. Trust that if something important happens, you’ll know about it. Otherwise, save yourself energy and spend your time on something more worthwhile… Like watching butterflies flutter.

4. Nurture your positive relationships

Hang out with people who are positive, inspiring and wonderful. Avoid people who are full of drama and constantly complaining about their lives.

5. Meet new people

Making a consistent effort to meet new people helps us fulfill and introduce new ideas and perspectives. It keeps things fresh and exciting.

6. Explore new places

New places and cultures offer a different perspective on the world and add a healthy dose of inspiration and possibility to our lives.

7. Spend money on experiences, not possessions

It’s experiences, not possessions, that create memories and meaning.

8. Cut down your junk

Physical clutter equals mental clutter; reducing the amount of stuff around us fosters a calmer mental state, too.

9. Make time for gratitude and appreciation

Creating a routine of writing down three things we feel grateful for each day helps us focus more on what we’re grateful for in life.

10. Be deliberate in your choices

We’ve never had so many opportunities to create a lifestyle that we truly love, yet many of us still live life on autopilot. Be deliberate in your life choices: remember that it’s your life and no-one else’s.

11. Invest in yourself

The more self-aware and self-accepting we are, the happier we are. Make time to read personal development books, journal, and focus on being compassionate towards yourself.

12. Allow yourself to feel happy

Many of us find it challenging to enjoy a calm, “normal” life. Give yourself permission to enjoy a drama-free existence and focus on finding pleasure in your daily experiences.

13. Practice mindfulness

Noticing how we feel and what’s around us right now is an effective way of getting out of our heads, detaching from our worries, and returning to the experience of what it’s truly like to be alive.

14. Get outside

Feel the wind on your face, the sun on your skin, and enjoy a good dose of Vitamin D and fresh air.

15. Speak your mind

When we hold back our thoughts, opinions, and desires out of fear of displeasing others, we’re not being true to ourselves. Speak up and feel uncomfortable in the short-term and you’ll enjoy life more in the long-term.

16. Record happy moments

Take photos, journal, draw—whatever you need to do to record happy moments and memories. Every time you remember an experience, you relive it, make the memories good. Enjoy.

Love you guys – Rafi

Have you ever had somebody just destroy something you created with an unwelcome verbal assault? That’s what a lot of us artists feel it like when we get any type of negative criticism.

“She looks like an amputee, do you find amputees hot or something?” Said drunk she.

As an artist I expose my emotions to the world in my art. This can be slightly terrifying unless you have a particular mindset when showing your work. I’ve had the benefit now of showing my pieces in just about every venue you can imagine. Some prestigious events and showings, such as my solo show at Marty Campbell Gallery, and some not so prestigious such as the flea markets and drunken parties.

“Some artists that I talk to, believe you have to develop a thick skin in order to be able to take the criticism.”

Personally, I think a thick skin only suppresses hurt emotions and leads to other issues. I’ll give you an example, recently I was showing my pieces at an event and a woman who had been clearly plastered made it a point to make a snide comment about every piece I was exhibiting.

“Is she supposed to be an amputee, is that what you where going for?” Said drunk she.

“Nope.” Said me.

“She looks like an amputee, do you find amputees hot or something?” Said drunk she.

“Sure… Being an amputee doesn’t make someone less hot.” Said me.

“Well, that’s fucked up.” Said drunk she.

“Guess you would know.” Said me as I walked away.

Admittedly, I could have just walked away without making that last comment. The truth is it wouldn’t have mattered if she was standing in front of a masterpiece or a turd on a stick, she was trying to be funny for her friends and acting like an idiot. That’s not to say that she is an idiot, she’s probably really sweet, but she is definitely not a very good art critic when she’s drunk and trying to be funny.

“I think you can easily get wrapped up in an “us” versus “them” mentality when you are showing something so intimate.”

Had I developed a thick skin, I probably would have just gotten mad under the surface and ignored her. But later on, I would be talking crap about her to my friends and complaining about stupid people who don’t appreciate art, and on and on.

What you have to remember is that everyone sees what they see. You see something special when you look at your art. Someone else looks and they may see something special to them, but they are not seeing the same thing. Reality is subjective and everyone sees the world through their own filter of understanding. That is what makes being an artist such an awesome thing, you get to hear all kinds of different interpretations of the world through your art.

Some are easy to hear because they resonate with you, some don’t and you consider it negative criticism of your work.

“He stared at me for a minute like I was the biggest idiot on the planet and then stormed off.”

I had another guy look at one of my pieces and tell me that my art was just ok, but it could be great if I followed his advice.

“That angel piece is cool, but it could be so much better.” Said drunk he.

“Really, how so?” Asked me.

“If you had her cutting her wings off, you know, because she hates herself and doesn’t think she deserves them.” Said drunk he.

“Um, that’s not really my thing…” Said me, gesturing to all my paintings.

“Bro, if you did that you would be famous! You Know, she’s a cutter and hates herself, and she’s cutting her wings off and there is blood. She doesn’t think she deserves life, she doesn’t deserve her beauty, so she cuts her face! You do that and I’ll buy it from you! And…” Exclaimed drunk he passionately.

I cut him off at that point.

“Not my thing, but thanks for the input.” Said me as I walked away.

“I’m sure there is a big market for masochistic angels who hate themselves, and he’s probably right, I would make the big time, but it’s not who I am.”

I’m am always aware of how powerful emotions play in creating a piece, something like that would require me to go down an emotional path that I’m not willing to take. That being said, it doesn’t mean he was wrong or stupid, it was his opinion and feeling of what he wanted to see. It has to do with him, not the art itself.

Basically, everyone sees your art through their eyes, 10 billion different interpretations of your work. Whether they are drunk or not. Love it or hate it. Don’t take it personally, it has nothing to do with you. Enjoy the ride, the criticism and remember that if no one was saying anything about your work, that would suck way worse.

If you could ask me six years ago “Hey Rafi, do you think you could ever make a living from your art?” I would have responded “I wish.”

I look at the old version of me, that guy was pretty cynical and pessimistic, it is no wonder I was stuck where I was. I was pretty comfortable in my corporate job following someone else’s agenda and thinking that life was all about sacrifice and quiet desperation. Obviously, I’m not living that life anymore, which is awesome.

I created a piece that is symbolic of the two versions of my life. In the past I was always waiting before making the move towards something I wanted. It was “When I have more money” or “When I have more time” or “When I retire” which never seemed to come. The bottom figure is sitting on his hands and hiding his face with his hat, which means he can’t see outside his small reality.

“Hey Rafi, do you think you could

ever make a living from your art?”

I would have responded “I wish.”

Later in life. I allowed inspiration to guide me like a mad man. I realized that life is too short to not live it fully now. I’ve always wanted to work for myself and create art for a living and decided to take the leap. The top figure is upside down with a balloon lifting him in the air. The balloon symbolizes inspiration, he is upside down because it was completely outside of my comfort zone. I had to become my biggest cheerleader in order to push myself forward through the minefield of doubt, and that was my biggest challenge. The figure is also looking up, it symbolizes the glimpse of the expanse of possibility and potentiality that we sometimes have blinders to.

I now know that it is possible for EVERYONE to succeed at anything that they put their mind to. The only thing you have to overcome is the challenge of doubt, it is the only thing that could ever truly stand in your way. I realized that I was with my own mind 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and I could either be self motivating or self deprecating. Had it been someone other than my own mind saying some of the crap that I said to myself I would have told them to suck an egg a long time ago.

Life IS too short to spend ANY time being mean, sarcastic, pessimistic, critical, judgmental, or mean to yourself. It’s really silly, some of the bullshit excuses we use to be unhappy. It’s your life, it’s your mind, own it. You get to decided, you either sit on your hand and wait or you let inspiration guide you even when everyone else thinks you’re nuts.

I had an interesting time titling this article, I must have typed and deleted the title a bazillion times. I don’t think I’ve ever actually thought about success and whether or not I’m qualified to talk about it. I’ve written blogs on success before, but usually those came at a moment where I was feeling successful and didn’t think much of it. I decided to dig a little deeper and see if I could define success for myself.

When you look up the definition of success in the dictionary, or the inter-nary as I like to call it you find this:

a person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity.

Again, reaching a desired goal and making huge amounts of money could make you feel successful. As I stated before, goals are always changing, evolving and being reached. In fact, it’s impossible to fail at anything unless you give up right away, and money comes and goes. I don’t think this is a good definition either.

Looking closely I have the realization that success is a feeling. All three of these definitions would help you feel successful but I don’t think any of them are the cause for success. Like most definitions, it’s based on the external environment, other people acknowledging that you are a success is based on the above criteria. This doesn’t mean that you feel successful to yourself. Besides, if you are dependent on what other people think of you, then you have a long roller coaster ride of emotions  ahead of you.

I think feeling successful is up to you. If you set the goal to smile every day, laugh, dance around in your underwear like a fool, enjoy the sun, look in the mirror and fall in love with yourself, I think these little things are what success should be rated on. Obviously, it’s not the typical way of seeing success, but I do think that if these things were important we would have more people striving and aiming for a goal to just be happy and enjoy life… Have fun, live long and prosper.

Finally! The biggest, yet smallest cheerleader you'll ever need :) If you want your own Agoggle visit the store, if it is sold out contact us.

Rafi Perez Solo Art Show

Eating a triscuit or paying your bills
If they can watch you,
They're gonna be thrilled
They really don't say much,
but you can be sure
When they look upon you
It's you they adore

Agoggles
Agoggles

They think you're amazeballs

Looking at them
looking at you
There pretty enthralled with
whatever you do
From checking your email
to fixing your hat
They're always excited
to watch you do that

Agoggles 
Agoggles

They think you're amazeballs

Don't you ever wear a frown
You're their favorite thing around

They don't get out much but with you life is truly awesome town!

Agoggles

So, not everyone can be a unicorn. Unicorns are mythical creatures who drink coffee in the morning and focus on the magic of life. Usually they are referred to as Pollyanna or someone who wears rose colored glasses. I take it back, EVERYONE can be a unicorn, but some don’t find it practical.  They think you have to keep your eyes open and live in the REAL world.

Honestly, the real world is just a subjective interpretation of what you see with your brain, the meaning you’ve attached to said items or circumstances is all you. Basically, we are all simply making this shit up as we go. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, it simply is the way it is. It’s the reason two people will argue two completely opposing views and both believe that they are completely correct in their argument.

I figure, if we are all just making it up as we go, why not just be a unicorn and make every day awesome.

I’ve been working on some pieces lately that are slightly out of my comfort zone. I’ve been interviewed on TV, in the newspaper and was asked to write a guest article for a magazine recently… Things like that are also outside of my comfort zone. Usually when I am doing something that makes me slightly nervous or is beyond what I think I can do, there is that voice of negativity that says,

“You know, you’re going to mess this up and make an ass of yourself.”

Luckily, my unicorn self is also there and says

“You’re going to be amazing, just be yourself and have fun… you’ll be great.”

That’s why I think, sometimes you just gotta be a unicorn.

My first SOLO art show, talk about shitting bricks. Luckily my unicorn self has my back.