On creating a meaning of life…
The year is stumbling across the finishing line, which is always a great time to reflect on how things are going, and planning for the year ahead. How was your year 2016?
Mine was great: just came home from a holiday in Japan… You can see my sketches here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/barbara_luel/
I wanted to write about my painting holiday in Japan, but there’s Aleppo… And I wanted to write about watercolor, drawing, and the new year coming, but there’s Aleppo…
When I think of 2016, it has been a quite violent year: terrible suffering, a lot of people have been dying violent deaths, and it’s still getting worse in Aleppo. Seeing images of Aleppo made me cry of shame: why am I not doing anything? Why is my government not doing anything? My government is doing worse then “not doing anything”: they are “bravely” fighting a small, poor Syrian family in court in order not to have to deliver a visa so they could travel in a safe way to Belgium, one of the richest countries on this planet, where a generous Belgian family is offering warm hospitality to them ! Soon dying of shame…. How absurd and ridiculous can it get? 🙁 A lot of misery on this planet for a lot of people…
But on the good side of this year there’s also a lot to say: a lot of generous people are really making a difference in this world and bringing beauty, with warm attention, friendship, a lot of love given for free,… different forms of lots of love change the pessimist world view I was writing about above. I say to myself I have the luxury of having been born in one of the richest countries on earth in a fine family with lots of love, so I have the “duty” to choose to be happy, stop whining about my luxury problems that aren’t real problems, and reach out to help others, to make also a difference in this world.
We are all dying. Life is a lethal disease. Some die sooner then others… some are really unlucky… But so let’s make the best you can out of our life. So I have a question for You: what do you want to do before you die? Let’s stop the small talk wasting time and get to big talk immediately to get a real connection with each other. Show each other your real vulnerable self: Suppose you die next week: what do you want to do this week? In other words: let’s immediately get to the important stuff: what’s REALLY important to you? What do you want to look back to with pride when you die, so you’ll have no regrets? Who’s REALLY important to you and who do you really want to spend your PRECIOUS finite time with?
How can we make the difference and make this world a better place?
Love to you all
xoxo
Barbara
PS: down here I post anyway two videos I made in Tokyo so you can see the most beautiful art supply shop in the world and some drawing 🙂
You are right about the suffering in this world, and it is therefore sometimes hard for me to justify (the luxury of ?) painting in light of that. However, with all of the craziness in this world …..and especially the out-of-body experience the U.S. seems to be in the midst of with Trump ……. painting does take me away from it all. Selfish….. yes. But it helps.
On another note ~ the videos that you took in the Japanese art store are not showing up (at least on my iPhone) as videos; just photos. The photos of that store shown on your blog look amazing! How beautiful! Also, in one of the photos of one of your paintings there are some brushes that are SO beautiful!!! What company makes them??
Hello Carla!
I think we shouldn’t feel guilty about making art to feel better. It’s a kind of meditation! And when we feel better, we make the people around us feel better. I think also that if everybody felt good, there wouldn’t be any wars or fights in the world…
Oh I don’t know why you can’t see the video?
You can view them on You Tube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUjISF3NBQzImPs2aTlDzlw
love to you and your loved ones for this end of the year!
Barbara
That’s really thknniig at a high level
So wonderful shop and your painting! Thank you.
Thank you very much Irina!
I also sometimes don’t know how to help with all the terrible things in the world and it makes me feel so dispirited. So I recognise a lot you are talking about here.
I also feel better and become a more positive (and helpful!) person when I get the chance to decompress by doing something creative, be it drawing or knitting or photography.
I love your painting by the way, you make me want to do all the watercolours everywhere.
Thank you very much Eefje !!!
Good post. I’m dealing with a few of these
issues as well..
❤️❤️❤️