Happiness through Creating

What happens when life falls apart and the future hasn’t arrived yet? In this Music Monday episode of  Happiness Through Creating , Brian Barlow explores the powerful song  No Man's Land  recorded by John Michael Montgomery and written by Bob Seger. The song tells the story of a single mother raising three children after the collapse of a relationship—living in the difficult in-between space t...

Why is it so hard for us to rest? In this episode of Happiness Through Creating , we explore the philosophy and spirituality of the Sabbath—the ancient idea that rest is not the opposite of creation, but an essential part of it. Drawing on insights from thinkers like Abraham Joshua Heschel, Aristotle, Josef Pieper, and Augustine of Hippo, we explore why true leisure is foundational to culture, cre...

In this episode of Happiness Through Creating , host Brian Barlow tells the remarkable story of James Naismith and what his life teaches us about creativity, constraints, and letting go of our creations. In 1891, faced with bored students, a cold gymnasium, and just two weeks to solve a problem, Naismith invented basketball using little more than a soccer ball, thirteen simple rules, and two peach...

In this Music Monday episode of Happiness Through Creating , we take a thoughtful look at the song “Something Just Like This” by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay. The song begins by comparing the narrator to legendary heroes—figures like Achilles, Hercules, Spider-Man, Batman, and Superman. Faced with these myths, he admits something many of us quietly feel: “I don’t see myself upon that list.” But t...

In this thought-provoking episode of  Happiness Through Creating , we reflect on two events that share the same date—March 6th—but represent very different human experiences. The fall of the Alamo in 1836 reminds us of courage, sacrifice, and the reality that meaningful efforts do not always produce immediate success. The patenting of aspirin in 1899 represents ingenuity, relief, and the quiet pow...

In this reflective episode of  Happiness Through Creating , we step inside the enduring arches of the Roman Colosseum—not just as tourists, but as thoughtful observers of history, leadership, and human intention. Tracing its origins from Emperor Vespasian’s decision to return land to the people, through centuries of spectacle, suffering, ruin, reinterpretation, and preservation, we explore how one...

In this uplifting Music Monday episode of  Happiness Through Creating , host Brian Barlow explores the timeless joy and emotional depth behind the song  “Count on Me.”  What sounds like a simple, feel-good anthem about friendship becomes, in Brian’s hands, a powerful blueprint for building real happiness through connection. Walking line by line through the lyrics, Brian reveals how the song captur...

In this episode, we reflect on Edgar A. Guest’s poem The Wrecker and consider what it teaches us about effort, agency, and happiness. We explore the tension between building and tearing down, recognizing that destruction is often easier—but creation requires care, skill, and patience. We examine how true happiness grows when we choose engagement over commentary and contribution over criticism. We...

In this episode, we explore the life of Shirley Chisholm as a powerful example of what it means to live as creators in the face of opposition. We reflect on how her identity as “unbought and unbossed” shows us that happiness comes from alignment, not approval. We consider how she chose her character deliberately, refused limiting labels, and turned resistance into refinement. We examine how meanin...

In this episode, we slow down with Natasha Bedingfield’s Pocketful of Sunshine and explore how it reflects the creator’s journey toward resilient, self-authored happiness. Together, we examine the idea that happiness is not a condition we wait for, but a resource we intentionally cultivate and carry within us. We reflect on how opposition, criticism, and pressure are part of the creative process—a...

In this episode, we explore the difference between hedonic happiness—pleasure and comfort in the present moment—and eudaimonic happiness—meaning, purpose, and long-term fulfillment. Together, we reflect on how both forms of happiness are essential, yet incomplete on their own. Drawing on Aristotle’s Golden Mean, we consider how true flourishing comes from balancing pleasure with purpose, action wi...

In this episode, we explore how Irena Sendler’s life reveals that happiness and meaning can emerge even in the darkest circumstances. Together, we reflect on how her courage and creativity during the Holocaust show that fulfillment is rooted not in comfort, but in alignment with our deepest values. We consider how her actions—saving 2,500 children through ingenuity, resilience, and moral convictio...

In this episode, we explore how Van Halen’s Right Now invites us to experience happiness through full presence and whole-being awareness. Together, we reflect on how true happiness isn’t postponed for tomorrow but lived actively in the present moment, even amid uncertainty and challenge. We examine how aligning our mind, body, heart, and spirit allows us to feel more integrated, alive, and engaged...

In this episode, we invite ourselves to arrive fully in the present moment and explore how empathy can transform pain into purpose. Through the story of Candy Lightner, we reflect on how unimaginable loss can become the seed of meaningful creation and social change. We see how her grief over her daughter’s death moved outward into empathy, and how that empathy gave birth to social responsibility....

In this episode of Happiness Through Creating , we tell the often-overlooked story of Elizabeth Jennings, a young Black woman whose quiet refusal to leave a segregated streetcar in 1854 helped set lasting change in motion. Her act was not a protest by design, but a choice to live in alignment with her dignity—and that choice became creative. We explore how creation often begins in ordinary moments...

On this Music Monday, we spend time with Mandisa’s powerful song Overcomer and explore what it teaches us about facing opposition without losing ourselves in the process. We talk about those “stop sign” moments—when life feels stalled, creativity feels muted, and it seems like everyone else is moving forward except us. Drawing from positive psychology, resilience research, and lived creative exper...

n this episode of Happiness Through Creating , we explore what new research from Harvard and Oxford is teaching us about how happiness is actually formed. Instead of treating happiness as a mood or destination, these studies track it in real time—revealing that happiness is shaped through daily patterns of sleep, movement, connection, and meaning. We reflect on why happiness is embodied, relationa...

In this episode of Happiness Through Creating , we explore the Salt March of 1930 and look at Mahatma Gandhi not as a symbol, but as a creator responding to injustice with intention and discipline. By choosing something as ordinary as salt, Gandhi designed a movement that invited participation, exposed oppression, and reshaped what people believed was possible—without violence. We ask the hard que...

This Music Monday invites us into Climb Every Mountain from The Sound of Music , not as entertainment, but as a philosophy for living a meaningful, creative life. In a moment of deep uncertainty, Mother Abbess doesn’t give Maria a plan — she offers alignment. This episode explores the difference between merely meeting expectations and responding to a calling that speaks to who we truly are. Throug...

In this episode, we explore playful curiosity as one of the most essential—and often overlooked—foundations of meaningful creation and lasting happiness. As life becomes more outcome-driven and performance-focused, curiosity is often replaced by caution. This conversation invites us to rediscover a way of engaging with life that allows happiness to emerge during the process of creating, not just a...

In this episode, we explore the story of Khaby Lame as a living example of how creation can emerge from resistance and lead to meaning, influence, and joy. From growing up in public housing in Italy to losing his factory job during the COVID-19 pandemic, Khaby’s journey shows how opposition can become the very space where creative identity is formed. We examine how his silent, minimalist videos cu...

On this Music Monday episode of Happiness Through Creating , we take a deeper look at Pink’s 2012 song “Try,” moving beyond its reputation as a motivational anthem. Rather than a song about confidence or winning, we reframe “Try” as a meditation on endurance, desire, and the discipline of continuing to create when outcomes are uncertain. Drawing from Pink’s personal context, psychology, and creati...

In this episode, we take an analytical deep dive into the 2025 World Happiness Report—not as a list of rankings, but as a research document that reveals how happiness is created, sustained, and undermined at both individual and societal levels. Rather than asking who is happiest, we examine what the data suggests about the conditions that allow happiness to emerge. We explore the report’s focus on...

In this episode, we explore the life of Jesse Owens as more than a sports legend—and as a powerful example of what it means to create your life in the face of opposition. From his childhood in poverty and segregation to his historic four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Jesse Owens’ story shows how identity, expression, and integrity can exist even when the world resists them. Through mome...

In this Music Monday episode of Happiness Through Creating , we explore the song “Shallow” from A Star Is Born as a powerful reflection on courage, honesty, and the opposition we face when we try to move beyond the surface of our lives. We unpack the song’s opening questions about happiness, fulfillment, and longing, and how they invite us to assess where we may be settling for comfort instead of...