Today I left Manhattan and venture out to Brooklyn. I've never actually been there and I hear that there is a really cool artist community there. So I hopped on the subway train and off I went. WOW, super cool place!
I came across an art studio where there was a potter working with a lump of clay. All around him was amazing pieces that he created. I was enamored at what I saw. I am not a particular fan of pottery, I appreciate paintings and drawings more, but this man was great. So I decided to stand with the rest of the crowd and watch him work.
Well, I watched and I watched and I watched….nothing. He just kept playing with the clay. He didn't talk, he just held the clay in his hands moving it around into different forms but he never actually made anything. I said to myself, “If he isn't going to make something, I’m moving on.” I didn't want to waste any more time in my day just watching him play with clay. So I walked away.
Hmmm, I thought about it. Time, Art and life. If what I am always telling you is true and that is, the secret to life is to be happy, then we need to individually discover what makes us happy and live that life, right?
If an artist puts a paint brush to a canvas and the painting is ‘instantly complete’ then off he goes to the next one….is that good? Would that process make the artist happy? Or, should we be more like that potter? Take our time, just play with the clay and push it around knowing that it will be beautiful when it is done; no need to rush it, just play and enjoy the process? To slow down and enjoy the life we have in our hands at this moment...just enjoy...hmmm?
I taught you last week that Leonardo Da Vinci worked three years on the Mona Lisa. Some of you gasped and said, “What?” But let’s think about it. He gave himself three years to enjoy the process. Maybe that is why he never gave the painting away. Maybe that is why he loved it so much that he kept it to himself; he became attached to it intimately. Maybe history has it all wrong. I taught you that the books say that he was never satisfied with it so he never gave it to his client.
Maybe, just maybe it wasn’t that he was not satisfied with it, but instead he fell in love with it because he spent three years interacting with the making of the painting and the painting had a piece of his soul. They were attached.
So, as I sit here drinking my skinny vanilla latte at Starbucks…thinking back to the potter that I just walked away from… maybe there is no hurry to create art, or life or relationships or careers. Maybe we should just be happy “playing with the clay, so to speak.” Why hurry, just to finish and get another lump of clay to start another piece? Why not just enjoy what is in your hands (life) now? Think about it! Love, Ms. B
I came across an art studio where there was a potter working with a lump of clay. All around him was amazing pieces that he created. I was enamored at what I saw. I am not a particular fan of pottery, I appreciate paintings and drawings more, but this man was great. So I decided to stand with the rest of the crowd and watch him work.
Well, I watched and I watched and I watched….nothing. He just kept playing with the clay. He didn't talk, he just held the clay in his hands moving it around into different forms but he never actually made anything. I said to myself, “If he isn't going to make something, I’m moving on.” I didn't want to waste any more time in my day just watching him play with clay. So I walked away.
Hmmm, I thought about it. Time, Art and life. If what I am always telling you is true and that is, the secret to life is to be happy, then we need to individually discover what makes us happy and live that life, right?
If an artist puts a paint brush to a canvas and the painting is ‘instantly complete’ then off he goes to the next one….is that good? Would that process make the artist happy? Or, should we be more like that potter? Take our time, just play with the clay and push it around knowing that it will be beautiful when it is done; no need to rush it, just play and enjoy the process? To slow down and enjoy the life we have in our hands at this moment...just enjoy...hmmm?
I taught you last week that Leonardo Da Vinci worked three years on the Mona Lisa. Some of you gasped and said, “What?” But let’s think about it. He gave himself three years to enjoy the process. Maybe that is why he never gave the painting away. Maybe that is why he loved it so much that he kept it to himself; he became attached to it intimately. Maybe history has it all wrong. I taught you that the books say that he was never satisfied with it so he never gave it to his client.
Maybe, just maybe it wasn’t that he was not satisfied with it, but instead he fell in love with it because he spent three years interacting with the making of the painting and the painting had a piece of his soul. They were attached.
So, as I sit here drinking my skinny vanilla latte at Starbucks…thinking back to the potter that I just walked away from… maybe there is no hurry to create art, or life or relationships or careers. Maybe we should just be happy “playing with the clay, so to speak.” Why hurry, just to finish and get another lump of clay to start another piece? Why not just enjoy what is in your hands (life) now? Think about it! Love, Ms. B
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