Sybil's Kimono

by Marion Halligan

Happiness is something we all seek, all throughout our lives, and various art forms are often the source of this. Marion Halligan explores the depth of materialistic happiness, and how various art forms produce happiness but are so abnormally appreciated in our society. 

‘She dwelt a fine house, and had friends who liked to entertain her. But she was not happy.’ While many have believed all throughout history that ‘things’ bring you happiness, Sybil, who appears to have all she could want, ‘wondered why one with so many pleasures should not enjoy them.’  Halligan illustrates how material possessions, and friendships without a true connection doesn’t make people happy. ‘But still she did her duty and went out,’ is often a sign of depression, when socialising is deemed a ‘duty’. However, given that this was published between the 1970’s - 1980’s, social awareness on mental health was stunted. 

Sybil, however, finds joy in a ‘water green silk patterned with paths that wound amongst trees and across little humpbacked bridges,’ a form of art in embroidery. Art makes you feel and think, and while it can be considered a ‘material possession' it stimulates your emotions, and even the simplest painted or piece of embroidery can make you feel joyous or despairing, or any other emotion on the spectrum. A kimono in this story represents happiness, and even in the darkest of times, the influence art has on people can get even the most disdainful people to ‘believe in the virus that resides in this kimono’.