HAPPEN, HAPPENED, HAPPENS, HAPPENING ….What’s Happening in your life?  C’mon in and pull up a chair. 

1a.) TO OCCUR, FORTUITOUSLY, CASUALLY, OR COINCIDENTALLY : COME ABOUT WITHOUT PREVIOUS DESIGN.

Now that we’ve gotten through Thanksgiving and people are rushing to prepare for Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, Boxing Day and New Years, why not take a time out from rushing toward or through and just be? Be present…learn to dance more, worry less and be here in the now.  Be in BOP: Balance, Observant, Present)

Have a happening and skyrocket your happiness.  Coral the neighbors, summon the kids, get together–get out there. Stop letting life simply happen.  Make life a happening!

What is a happening?

Happenings, a term coined by Allan Kaprow in the late 1950s, define an art form in which an action is extracted from the environment, replacing the traditional art object with a performative gesture rooted in the movements of everyday life.

In less austere language, a happening is an event where you and friends get together to create an experience you all can share.  What kinds of happenings can you have?  Do something you’ve never done before as a group.  Yodel over the ocean at sunset.  Hopscotch through a daisy patch, (just don’t let the gardener catch you).  Dance through a rain shower…anything out of the ordinary you can experience together and film for posterity.  Just make SOMETHING happen, a happening!

What did we do?  We had a happening on top of Topanga and danced the sun rise in.  To see our Thanksgiving weekend happening, view the below video and see if you can find me.  Here’s the clue: I’m the only guy trying to dance!

Many thanks, hugs and kisses to Madeleine for making this happening happen.  Below are her notes.

Be Bop!

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HAPPENING NOTES: by Madeleine Butcher(Mad Heppner)

A happening is a surprise – something not expected –

It is a surprise gift to the imagination – it stops the usual routine and day-to-day expectations while introducing the possibility of something new or imaginative.

The purpose of a happening is to elevate your spirit and open your mind.  It’s about fun, being silly and just loving life.

A successful happening is achieved if, should a passerby pause, reflect and chuckle, his current reality changes.  As he departs from the happening, a smile graces his face, reflecting the intimacy of a shared glimpse. Happenings are about the realm of possibility, where imagination leads and the truth of what can be is…if only we dare to imagine.

Life’s surprises dwell within.  Simply open your heart, expand your mind, allow ideas and experiences to flow freely.  Delight in confusion, delight in chaos and just allow yourself to be. A happening deals directly with people – not just performance.

Performance is ONE aspect of a happening –

“What is a Happening? A game, an adventure, a number of activities engaged in by participants for the sake of playing.” –Allan Kaprow

We are bringing movement to the people.  I feel we are living in a culturally deprived world.  People have become unaware of their need for art.  Their imaginations are dimming.  I believe that movement can save your soul.  I believe that art can revive your life.  DANCE MORE, WORRY LESS. 

Using the element of surprise, I want to open people’s inner eye – I want to bypass the logical reasoning mind through gentle and playful surprise, in order to inspire them to investigate their own individual expression. 

I want people to feel invited to participate and perhaps they will if they see something enough times.

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C’mon and share! You know you want to. Add your happenings to the comment box below…let’s see what you’ve got happening!

Be Bop!