The primary field of art is living itself

We forget that these things are reflections of living.

I believe that the primary field of art is living itself.

In life-as-art, our palette consists of the resources we have on hand …
the clothes and fragrances we choose to adorn ourselves with;
the food we choose to nourish ourselves with;
what we choose to live in,
drive in,
work in.

Just as an artisan cleans her tools and curates the best materials she can find for her specific creation,
so our artisanal-living shows up in the care we take of our supplies and the devotion we cultivate to our vision.

No master craftsman would skimp or rush or settle-for-less-than.

Rather, she is deliberate in her choices,
patient in her acquisition.

Our living-as-art is expressed in the smiles we share;
the words we use or choose not to;
the tunes we hum or belt out;
and the timbre of the silences we settle into.

We consciously and unconsciously master skills that seem inconsequential until, sometimes years later,
we see the consequences of repetition.

Painters are recognized by brush strokes.
Poets by the rhythm of their stanzas.
Designers by the details of their look.

In the same way, my life-art can be identified by the bazillion tiny choices I make in what I use and how I do what I do.

I can see my life-art being molded by the habits I hold or break;
shaped by the decisions to uplevel or make-do;
coloured by the lenses that tint my perspective and connections.

If,
in 40 years or so,
I could hold up the canvas of my life,
I want it to be a gilded masterpiece of intentionality.

A vast panorama of experiences created,
curated,
savoured.

I strive to become a masterful live-er,
to live a beauty-filled life …
full of light + depth,
the highlighted,
the hidden;
the messy
and the glorious.

I’m working on a deliberate and magnificent vision,
while still leaving plenty of space for serendipitious magic
and delightful better-than-expected’s.

Because, gentle reader,
I believe that in the grandest scheme of being human,
this is the most significant contribution I can make
to the world at large.