Art And The Practice Of Being Yourself

On my way to figuring out what my gift is, how my creativity surfaces, I, for many years have seen myself as not creative. Among people who draw and paint, I can only appreciate color, line, and subject. Among people who make music, who sing and play, I can only listen with awe and appreciation. Among those who write words of all kinds, I can only pass them on. When Malcolm Gladwell examined Paul Revere's role in the American Revolution, I began to remove the word "only" from my descriptions of myself and replaced it with the concept of connection and integration. I connect people to people, people to art, music, theory, practice, wonders of ourselves and the world. My art is sharing myself and the world with others, connecting those around me to themselves and their possibilities and souls, and I use words to paint pictures, I speak words to connect people with their deepest selves, I sing praise to all who can hear. How do I come alive? I show up, light up, and reflect the best of others onto themselves. My art is showing up as myself so that others can discover how to be the best of themselves alongside me. At 75, even though I have always "BEEN", I now can see how I have traveled my life and I am satisfied.

Your post reminded me of scripture that says (paraphrased) to each are given a gift which combined with the gifts of others, creates a beautiful whole. The body is composed of many parts which work together, the hands, the feet, the eyes, ears, brain etc., each with their own gift to make up the beautiful bodies of us on this planet. I am 76, close to you in age, and am beginning to see my life does have meaning. Thank you for your post.

Your post is very meaningful to me right now as I look forward to my approaching 72nd birthday. I wonder where all the years went. As I look back I see phases where interests which came and went. I enjoyed the pursuit of a meaningful career, athletic attempts, building of culinary and gardening skills, but when all is said and done, I never achieved excellence in any one thing. Now, I’m no longer desire to be competitive, and I no longer strive for perfection, I just enjoy the process. I no longer try to do it all.

Let your life be an art!