Guest on podcast
Melissa Mahoney guest on 'Freeman Means Business' podcast
November 20, 2018
Melissa Mahoney and Her Ikigai, Secret to Her Long and Happy Life
“Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years.” —Japanese proverb
Host: Susan Freeman, of Jaffe / Freeman Means Business
Guest: Melissa Mahoney — Mahoney Artwork
According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai—a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese village with the world’s longest-living people, finding it is the key to a happier and longer life. Having a strong sense of ikigai—the place where passion, mission, vocation, and profession intersect—means that each day is infused with meaning. It’s the reason we get up in the morning. It’s also the reason many Japanese never really retire (in fact there’s no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense it does in English): They remain active and work at what they enjoy, because they’ve found a real purpose in life—the happiness of always being busy.
Getting to Know Melissa Mahoney
Today, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing fine artist, Melissa Mahoney or MahoneyArtWork.com for my Freeman Means Business “Wonder Women in Business” podcast. Melissa’s latest painting series is titled, “Vortices.” She says Vortices draw all that surround them into their powerful currents. She's interested in these masses of energy and how they can contain and then transfer their energy.
Melissa is also attracted to the fluidity and texture of textiles. She created a recent series of artwork specifically to be printed on silk fabric. She created a custom silk scarf for Stanford University, and it sells at the Stanford bookstore on campus and online.
Melissa grew up in a family of artists, drawing and painting. She received formal art training at the University of Georgia where she earned a BFA. She went on to study art in Tuscany, Italy.
In our podcast, we discussed everything from her vast backpacking and biking travels throughout Europe and Asia to the incredible social psychologist, Geert Hofstede and his cultural dimensions.
