Art history students no doubt pursue the path they do so they can live and work among beautiful works of art. And also because they can consort intellectually with the artists in different historical eras and their discipline altering visions and techniques.
It can also be safely assumed that chefs love and respect food and no doubt love eating it, too. But I imagine they are discerning as their skill intensifies. They learn to prefer eating well-prepared good food over junk.
And there is an alarmingly high quantity of junk food available out there. A lot of junk generally.
There is a Biblical verse that says that we must learn to separate the wheat from the chaff in our lives. I think that is just an old-fashioned way of prioritizing and setting goals. Pursuing quality and goals that will lead you to a satisfying place instead of a spiritually barren and empty field.
“He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”
Matthew 3:12
And even as you deliberately set out on this path, it can take awhile to get there. Distractions abound.
I have been wondering lately what emphatically drew me to books and the words they are made of so early and passionately in my young life.
A love of books was shaped to a degree by my mother. Books were her other obsession along with prescription pills. But I caught the reading bug and have never recovered. Mom says I was an accomplished reader by the time I started Grade One.
Love of, and a requirement, to use and develop my imagination were part of that pull. By seeing authors use words to devise and describe scenarios, it seems like a superpower to me. Authors allowed us to visit worlds, and meet people I would never likely meet in everyday life.
Not anywhere near as many, at any rate. And never in much depth. Facts in scholarly books help us understand things. And a skilled and gifted novelist can articulate aspects of life and living that are not always quantifiable. Like love and truth and beauty.
Those magical moments in life are often fleeting and ephemeral. The dew that collects on a sunflower overnight won’t last long. A white beach brightly illuminated by the moon and stars will simply be another tourist trap come morning. The emotions that stir in your belly while looking at a beautifully executed painting or even a photograph pass by when you move along
It is the pull toward seeking and the seeing that sets the artist apart. They can often show us another way to look at things, think about things, and express things. With their works, they can elevate or move us into a deeper understanding of something on a personal level.
People in everyday life rarely let their guard down and reveal their weakness and deficiencies as tidily as an author can. In the beleaguered hero, we find an underdog to champion. In the vile and conniving character, we can pray either for his salvation or demise. In the vulnerable child left to her own devices, we pray for her survival and succor.
It can take an alarmingly long time to discover our fellows substantial liabilities in real life. It can take an even longer time to discover and deal with our own weaknesses and deficiencies. Working to tame and overcome them is an ongoing work in progress.
As I busy myself these days creating a home environment I deem beautiful and elegant and workable, I am dabbling in artistic choice-making.
Because as Matthew said in The Bible, it is the choices we make between the wheat and the chaff that inform our living environment and shape our character. By doing this consistently, we eventually see the results manifest in our every day lives.
So I set my sights anew on bringing truth and beauty into my life every day. It is a practice of ongoing renewal and commitment. I well know when I’m failing or falling short of these ideals. I also see when I succeed and I have learned to appreciate those moments, too.
I have discovered it is important to me as a daily mantra to keep striving toward my dreams and ideals. That vision is what guides and greases the trajectory of the journey. By my age, most of my peers and I have learned and accept our limitations.
We have, or should have, a clear understanding of what we can practically do and cannot do. We have tossed our big and unwieldy and unrealistic dreams for smaller, satisfying, manageable ones.
This is not the same as giving up. It is growing up. Seeking truth and beauty are my goals. I am fully cognizant that the little choices I make every day are one day woven into a much more complex and tightly woven tapestry that is my life.
Avoid the acrylic and opt for the real sheepswool yarn, say I.
I fully believe it will pay off eventually.
Expressive Compulsive 