23) Research on book 'How Proust can change YOUR LIFE' - 13/11/17

Another philosophy book I wanted to look at to influence my research was Alain De Botton's 'How Proust can change YOUR LIFE'. Again I thought the commentary on different happiness philosophies could influence my own practice. My notes from reading the book are down below, and I'm going to elaborate further on quotes I've picked out throughout this blog post.

The first relevant chapter I looked at was chapter 1, titled 'How to Love Life Today'.

The chapter begins with introducing the scenario that the world is ending in a few hours, and if it was - what would you do in these last hours? I thought this was a good question to ask to indicate what makes you happy, because it you only had a few hours left on Earth you'd do the things that make you the most happy.

The extract above highlighted shows Prousts' response to the question, and he brings up the idea that everything would "become beautiful again" due to the certainty of a future being stopped. I really like this idea, and I feel the things people would do in this short time left on Earth would epitomize their happiness.

Ironically, in the above extract you can see how Proust shows the uncertainty of when life will end because only 4 months after writing his response to this question, he passed away. This really underlines to me the importance of doing what makes you happy, because you never know if your life is going to come to a sudden end.

The next relevant chapter I looked at was chapter 4, titled 'How to Suffer Successfully'.

The first quote I found can be seen above where Proust states "My only consolation when I am really sad is to love and be loved". I thought this related to happiness because he's highlighting something that brings him out of sadness and into happiness, and I feel its one of the basic needs of human happiness - even if it's love through friendship or family, not just through relationships. I think loving yourself is also really important, and this idea shines through in my first studio shoot for the steps to happiness manifesto, for instance exercise more is an example of self love. This love is also depicted through the heart shape made by the laces of the shoes (see picture below for reference).

Following on from this I read through chapter 7, titled "How to Open Your Eyes".

In this chapter it begins to speak about a character Proust created in a novel who is sad and in discontent about his life, so Proust suggests looking at Chadin's paintings. This is because "Chadin had shown him that the kind of environment in which he lived could, for a fraction of the cost, have many of the charms he had previously associated only with palaces and the princely life". Chadin showed this character that he can be enchanted by his own environment and not be envious of bankers and their "gold-plated coal tongs". I really like this idea of being content and finding wonder in your everyday surroundings, and it's something I'm trying to do in my own photography through my 35mm point and shoot work.

I also thought it was interesting how Proust contrasts with John Berger's ideas on paintings, where Berger thinks paintings show what the rich and wealthy have and want to show off. However Proust feels you can find wonder in paintings similar to your own wealth and use them to help appreciate your own life more. This is indicated by the quote on page 150 where he says "I have tried to show how the great painters initiate us into a knowledge and love of the external world, how they are the ones by whom are eyes are opened".

Chapter 7 continues on with this idea of being content with your surroundings, and I noticed the quote "Appreciating the beauty of crusty loaves does not preclude our interest in a chateau, but failing to do so must call into question our overall capacity for appreciation". I really like this idea of always appreciating what you have, even if you long for more in life. It shows you can still find happiness in life and not base it on materialistic things and riches. This is something I want to show in my own photography through taking photos of the happiness I find in daily life.

The last quote I noted from this chapter was about why we don't appreciate things more widely, and Proust says "The problem goes beyond intention or laziness. It may also stem from insufficient exposure to images of beauty, which are close enough to our own world in order to guide and inspire us". What I take away from this is that I need to surround myself with as much art and beauty as I can that relates to my life to inspire me, which will not only benefit my project in terms of photography but hopefully benefit me in my wellbeing and happiness too.

The last chapter I looked at was chapter 8, titled 'How to Be Happy in Love'.

In the quote above Proust is displaying how you can have a deeper understanding and love for something through the example of clothes "Albertine has very little money and the Duchesse owns over half of France. The Duchesse's wardrobes are therefore overflowing ... Albertine on the other hand hardly buys anything ... she spends hours studying clothes ... The result is that, although Albertine has far fewer clothes than the Duchesse, her understanding, appreciation and love of them is far greater". I found it really interesting how you can have a deeper love and understanding for something you desire in comparison to just being rich in materialistic things. You need to have the "opportunity to suffer the interval between desire and gratification" for happiness.

Overall I thought this book was relatively helpful in terms of finding philosophies on happiness, however a lot of the book was based around Prousts' life himself so it was quite difficult to sift through all the information about him. Nonetheless I found some interesting points on happiness which I hope will feed into my work, and it's nice to have found some contrasting points on paintings in comparison to other theorists such as John Berger.

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