Eudaimonia

I photograph my everyday life, recognizing the aesthetic and emotional weight it carries behind its seeming insignificance. This area is filled with tenderness and melancholy, feelings that – like in this case – are moving in the background, feeding and fueling my artistic creation.

Eudaimonia

Eudaimonia is often translated as “happiness,” but that’s a bit misleading. It comes from two Greek words:

Eu-: good

Daimon: soul or “self.” A difficult word to translate into English.

Moreover, “happiness” is an emotion, whereas Eudaimonia is a much more comprehensive state of being. Happiness is something that a person might create or lose at any moment, while Eudaimonia takes long effort to build and has staying power.

In Greek philosophy, Eudaimonia means achieving the best conditions possible for a human being, in every sense–not only happiness, but also virtue, morality, and a meaningful life. It was the ultimate goal of philosophy: to become better people—to fulfill our unique potential as human beings. Aristotle wrote about the idea the most, and he argued that the important question isn’t what you do, but how you do it. He believed that happiness and well-being come from how we live our lives and that’s not in pursuit of material wealth ,power,or honor. Rather come from rational activities aimed at pursuing ” What is worthwhile in life “