My thoughts are mine, and mine alone. Painting presents me with an opportunity to share those. Today, my thoughts drift to the nature of our world, and the way we either are, or are not using it.
It occurs to me that perhaps we, as a people, don't take this life very seriously. I mean not that we're too silly or we have too much fun. I fully condone those choices, but perhaps we don't value it enough. Maybe we don't respect our time here. We live in falsehoods. The existence that we create through Facebook photo tags, status updates, Twitter trendings, and Snapchats is manufactured. It is not real - which can mean, at times we're living a false life. Of course, we could be using those things to connect with real people, in real and meaningful ways. But are we?
We fill life with meaningless rituals - with "supposed to" and "have to." It is as if we're all trying to prove - to ourselves, to others, to nobody in particular - that what we're doing matters and that we are not just going through the motions. But we are. We craft and document how busy we are. Our friends reply, "way to go" and "keep up the good work." They enable our pretend lives. We make ourselves look brave and put-upon that we're handling all that life has given us, and I fear - we're making ourselves look like total jackasses. Case in point - let's take the Facebook post that I just stole from Google images.
My initial, unvarnished reaction is: You are all complete idiots. My rational brain usually tells my gut reaction to shut up, and then I apologize to the cosmos for lambasting these poor, hopefully well-meaning strangers. But I don't mean it. I do think they're idiots. But I don't want to.
I want my paintings to show pieces of real. Pieces of things that have been important. I want them to be the polar opposite of what I've been describing. I want them to remind people to see what a rare and special gift we've all been given. I want them to recognize that the amount of time they spend bitching on Facebook could be channeled into something meaningful. I want them to know that even though a real life that doesn't involve pretending you're alive is a lot more challenging, it is completely worth it. I want people to live a life filled with value. I want it to make them happy. I want them to stop and ask the simple human question, "what do I need most and how can I make that happen?"
I just pray that the answer isn't, "get back to my nail polish board on Pinterest."
It occurs to me that perhaps we, as a people, don't take this life very seriously. I mean not that we're too silly or we have too much fun. I fully condone those choices, but perhaps we don't value it enough. Maybe we don't respect our time here. We live in falsehoods. The existence that we create through Facebook photo tags, status updates, Twitter trendings, and Snapchats is manufactured. It is not real - which can mean, at times we're living a false life. Of course, we could be using those things to connect with real people, in real and meaningful ways. But are we?
We fill life with meaningless rituals - with "supposed to" and "have to." It is as if we're all trying to prove - to ourselves, to others, to nobody in particular - that what we're doing matters and that we are not just going through the motions. But we are. We craft and document how busy we are. Our friends reply, "way to go" and "keep up the good work." They enable our pretend lives. We make ourselves look brave and put-upon that we're handling all that life has given us, and I fear - we're making ourselves look like total jackasses. Case in point - let's take the Facebook post that I just stole from Google images.
My initial, unvarnished reaction is: You are all complete idiots. My rational brain usually tells my gut reaction to shut up, and then I apologize to the cosmos for lambasting these poor, hopefully well-meaning strangers. But I don't mean it. I do think they're idiots. But I don't want to.
I want my paintings to show pieces of real. Pieces of things that have been important. I want them to be the polar opposite of what I've been describing. I want them to remind people to see what a rare and special gift we've all been given. I want them to recognize that the amount of time they spend bitching on Facebook could be channeled into something meaningful. I want them to know that even though a real life that doesn't involve pretending you're alive is a lot more challenging, it is completely worth it. I want people to live a life filled with value. I want it to make them happy. I want them to stop and ask the simple human question, "what do I need most and how can I make that happen?"
I just pray that the answer isn't, "get back to my nail polish board on Pinterest."
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