Finding Meaning Amidst the Chaos of the Holiday Season
The holiday season sometimes feels like a chaotic Jackson Pollock painting when my soul longs for the serenity of a Degas or Cassatt.
Pollock’s paintings are wild, chaotic, all over the place, demanding an answer, taking me all over the place with little rhyme or reason, shifting my focus and digressing which is how I feel during the madness of the holidays.
When I become overwhelmed and stressed out by its musings and wild abandon, I feel the siren’s call – “Come!” As I head to a local museum. There’s the Egyptian section (Ancients), the Roman period, Medieval stained glass, portraits painted in the style of Impressionism and the French Salon, the Arab section reflecting artwork from Constantinople and finally modernity and America. There was even a room dedicated to mobile phone pictorials which is the most modern form of art – bet you never knew your teens are creating art every single day in the form of the selfie!
As I walk through the rooms I realize –
Museums are a reflection of the human soul throughout time and across cultures – they are portraying the struggle, the truth, the beauty and the goodness of the human condition.
Navigating through the ancient Egyptian sarcophagus’ and meandering through the ancient sculptures, they communicate the frailty and time limitations of the physical human body yet the endurance of the human soul – life is short and time is limited so use the time you’re given to connect with others, share your human experience, and show us a reflection of your soul through your own personal art form.
My soul starts to come alive with hope as the beauty of each artist’s soul is reflected via the art. They are communicating to us their hopes, dreams, desires, viewpoints, beliefs, and opinions.
The beauty of the human soul radiates through the artistic design of the vases, the antiquities, the utensils, textile weavings, paintings, furniture, script, sculptures and my soul feeds off it – growing more and more excited about life – as my priorities fall into line and I gain perspective, my to-do list shrinks and peace transcends.
My endless to-do list becomes negligible while a long-term perspective develops and I ask myself, “What do I want to be remembered for?” “How am I contributing to the human experience?” “How is meaning, love, and caring being communicated and infused into the lives of the people I come in contact with on a daily basis?”
Bottom line - What will you be remembered for?
The perfect Bundt cake, the extraordinary decorations, the expensive gifts OR the smile and hug which were accompanied by a plate of homemade cookies to a housebound neighbor?
Take a moment this holiday season to PAUSE and REFLECT and CREATE! It can be anything, simply begin to write (start a blog!), bake, dance, sing, film, photograph, sculpt, craft and/or paint – pass along the beauty of your soul through your art and inspire the next generation as they search for truth, beauty and goodness during the Jackson Pollock hyper-frenetic chaos of the season.
This is the best gift that you could give yourself and the world around you.
Kommentare