ARTISTIC

One thing that amazes me about many artists is their ability to paint stunningly captivating pictures from common everyday moments in life--scenes so mundane and experiences so ordinary that you and I don’t see them for what they really are as we waltz through our day on autopilot. (“Clueless!” applies here.) This is one way I understand what it means to be truly “artistic.”

Take for instance, a couple standing with pitchfork in hand, in front of their farm (American Gothic, Grant Wood); Girl With a Pearl Earring (Johannes Vermeer); The Starry Night, (Van Gogh). Artists make a practice of capturing one of the millions of moments we experience in a day. Then, sharing their perspective and talent, create something incredibly beautiful out of it--something so striking that we, the observer, literally overlook or forget the ordinariness of it. Instead, we are lifted into the realm of the extraordinary.

This says a lot about art, artists, and artistry, but what does this say about life? 

That every moment, every element, and every experience within it has the capacity to speak to us, inspire us, and teach us--in short, to “beautify” us--if we even for a moment, will stop and give it our deeper attention. Artists show us the amazing results that come from training our minds to do just this. They invite each of us to look at our day and do what they do--to capture the beautiful (the remarkable, the valuable, and the teachable) within the banal, to see what life lessons even a few of this day’s moments are waiting and wanting to teach us.

Next time you see an artist, thank them for leading the way on this one. And then remember, it helps, but you don’t have to be an artist to be artistic. 

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE THINK.