The Back Track to Art

According to the online magazine Science Now, the secret to happiness is…

<drum roll>

… giving.

More specifically, happiness means not spending all your money on yourself, but giving some of it to help others (like the small and (financially) struggling arts organization in your home town).

Or as the story says:

Think you’d be happier if you won the lottery or just had a few extra bucks in your pocket? Think again. Overturning classic economic wisdom, new research shows that it’s not how much you have that matters, it’s how you spend it. People who donate their dollars to charities or splurge on gifts for others are more content than those who squander all the dough on themselves…

I know it sounds strange, but this notion was supported by three separate scientific studies. And having just lived through the Guild’s stunningly fun Annual Auction for the Arts, and having seen the happy looks on the faces of those who have spent their money for a good cause (i.e., keeping afloat their very own hometown art center), I know this notion to be true.