THE FUTURE OF HAPPINESS
To ask how to be happy is to think about the future of happiness. Let me explain: are we building a new era that promotes happiness? People like me — those who draw, write, enjoy reflecting with ourselves and questioning ourselves, talking with others, debating, changing our minds and starting again — have always done these things. They are an indispensable part of our happiness. And more than that, I believe many of these things are absolutely essential in order to be happy.
To answer someone who asks for the secret of how to be happy is, without a doubt, to encourage them to find themselves, to share with other living beings — people, and animals too — and to push them to get into trouble, because questioning oneself is often the doorway to painful discoveries, but healing ones.
Personally, I enjoy activities such as writing and drawing — above all, drawing. Artistic activity is a journey full of risks: the risk of falling into neurosis, of feeding the ego, of becoming frustrated, of feeling envy. Fortunately for me, it is a space for self-knowledge.
For example, these two dogs in the drawing are Beto and Lola. My loves. In this drawing there is gratitude for having them by my side, for feeling what I feel for them, and also fear — the fear that I will inevitably lose them. That is why I want to honour them every day and make the most of every moment with them.
Having said all this, let us return to the statement at the beginning of this text. It is undeniable that we are building a new era: the balance of power in the world is changing, and artificial intelligence and robotics are transforming our lives faster than we can digest. And will the children of the future — those of 25 years from now — still be able to draw in order to find their space for self-reflection? Or will they not even have coloured pencils with which to do it? When a girl like me is born, how will she be able to find her path if she never learns to draw?
An unhappy life is a life without meaning, and happiness cannot come from outside us; it can only come from within, through creation, thought, sport, love, gratitude and personal growth.
