and what about happiness

i saw a ted video today
that talked about happiness and synthetic happiness
and then,
about what conditions support the ability to create synthetic happiness.
the main thing that interested me was how the issue of choice fits into this equation...
apparently, in situations where one has a choice in the outcome, it is harder to create synthetic happiness

now as i understand it
synthetic happiness is somewhat akin to being able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
which is something that i consider myself quite adept at
and
being an artist (for me)
has a lot to do with creating a world where i can make choices about how things turn out...

this might speak a bit to why things can be a bit more difficult in the studio
normal coping mechanisms just don't apply