art Archives - Page 2 of 2

Don’t You Forget This

2 July 2013July 2, 2013Eric

The above is a scene from one of my favorite films, Dead Poet's Society. The clip lasts for about 2 !/2 minutes and is well worth the watch on many levels.

There are two lines from this scene that are a part of me:

"Forget them" and "Don't forget this."

Each of those lines create a powerful dichotomy. We must forget some things and some people. And yet we must never forget some things and some people. Knowing the difference means everything.

Our media addicted culture thrives on forgetting what's important. Like the firefly driven and enslaved to the light. We just can't remember because we fail to choose what's worth our time. We fail to know and understand what's most valuable. By the way, our culture rarely supports this approach.

Ladies and gentlemen, I've pissed off more than a few people due to my indifference to what I believe to be not worth my attention. It was never via harsh words or actions, just a quiet stance for what I know is worthy.

Now, who's worthy of forgetting? The critics, the naysayers and the dead (those who still breathe and yet show no real life). People or things that always find a way to find what's wrong can be dangerous. Many have given up because of the voices who laugh and chide. Don't let them win.

Don't you forget this.

Everyone Is An Artist

30 May 2013May 30, 2013Eric

I've made the point before, but everyone is an artist and everyone has an art. This post is about two views of art. One is rooted in arrogance and the other humility.

I find it strange and sobering when I encounter an artist who is arrogant. I can say this because of the days of my own arrogance. Not to mention, my current struggles with the subtleties of arrogance. My struggles are rooted in the arrogance of my own knowledge (often torn down when I learn something new) and the age-old practice of not slowing down. The beauty of this struggle is in not surrendering and to be found fighting.

The big take away for the arrogance view is that it prostitutes the glories of art. When an artist begins to take credit, look down-upon or just ignores, there is a serious problem. If truth be told the artist is very insecure and can't handle the beauty in their hands. Crazier still, the artist usually has someone in their lives to keep things real. Man, is that like a glass of cold water on a hot summer's day. But often the artist will banish those folks, out of fear, the fear of being exposed.

The view of humility is rooted in hope. I know it is for me. A hope that I can become what is pure and lovely. That all my mistakes don't make it too late. That if I embrace humility, I will be given a second chance to create something beautiful. Maybe a few chances, if I just remember the gift and remember what I could have turned into.

Yes, it is difficult to have and hold the view of art that is humility. It surely means you'll cry, your heart will break and the world will laugh at you. Most of the truly great artists have experienced this, often in anonymity. Humility is the surest path to art that will make you happy and make you alive. Anything less, is akin to sleep walking or living-death.

Everyone is an artist.

What Ed Reminded Me Of

7 February 2013February 7, 2013Eric

This post came over to me as a gift last week. It's from Ed Batista, a writer and coach, out of the San Francisco area. He does some marvelous work with graduate students at Stanford and beyond. Needless to say, I count him as a source of inspiration and fellow pilgrim.

The gift of the post was beautiful and it reminded me of some things easily missed. I just couldn't help thinking about Ed's view and impression of my writing. His words encouraged me that my voice, my notes, are coming out. It wasn't as if I doubted this, it's just great to know that it is connecting as I desire. Ed's comments also wrap around some transitions I'm going through relating to Epic Living, entrepreneur pursuits and life (of course). More to come on this front in the coming weeks.

I believe my Father (I'm trying to get out of just calling him God) speaks and works through connecting the dots. You know, one conversation a month ago that connects to an email seemingly out of the blue. It's a great way of communicating.

So there is my wife, Eileen, Marc, and Ed over a 45-day period exhorting, suggesting, confirming.

I am grateful.

Living Life Well

12 April 2012April 12, 2012Eric

One of the greatest hindrances of living your life well is the tendency to listen to crowd noise. The critics, the fearful, the rigid, and it goes on and on. Learning can certainly come from crowd noise, but it's best not to linger there for very long.

I see a disturbing trend where I live. The world is shaping up to need artists and many are acting as if it is calling for redundant task work. Prepping to understand what your art is can be difficult because its supposed to be. The riddle is summed up in not only finding your art, it's also the input that goes into making it.

The connection between the life well lived and our unique art is inseparable.

Paying Attention to Your Role

11 February 2012February 11, 2012Eric

"All the world's a stage. And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages."

-William Shakespeare

If Shakespeare was right, and I believe he was, then the implications are vast. Not because it's some kind of complicated riddle. It's really quite simple, and hard. We live in an age where human beings willingly give up their role in the spirit of conforming or just plain fear. In our limited mind we see no other way, so we punt telling ourselves that we could be worse off or we're lucky to have a job. You can fill in many more blanks here. The trading of identity is a no-excuse game. I don't recommend it.

In my last year, I've had some experiments that didn't go as I had hoped. But I am undaunted in playing the role heaven gave me. Sets change, production units revise the scenes, directors are replaced, but I have a part to play. You and I are alike in this.

If your alert and awake, here's what can help you in the art of paying attention to your role:

Faith
Perseverance
Optimism
Vulnerability
Communication

Your Life The Symphony

20 December 2010December 20, 2010Eric

Please view the above video, it provides a necessary context for this post. You may not be a fan of Peter Cetera or Chicago, but hopefully you can appreciate what goes into the making of art and craft.

I love this song and have for many years. The version in the video clip captures an artist who owns the work. Unmistakable, how Mr. Cetera delivers something he birthed in 1976. I imagine he had some say in how the song would be arranged and performed. I imagine he had some say in who would perform the work of art as well. You have a lot of power when a gift is in your hands.

After I found this clip, and listened to it a number of times, I couldn't help but see the similarities in the form of a life living and lived. It gave me urgency around living out my Epic Life. It made me stand back in awe of what the gift of life means…what it implies for all of us. Do you know that your life is unfolding before your very eyes? Do you understand that this is happening whether you choose to participate or not?

I want my life to be as beautiful and brilliant (like the sun) as the sound of a symphony. Every instrument coming together to be somehting that could never be accomplished alone. To be a voice that, if even faint, would be missed inside of something so beautiful.

I want the above for you as well. My mission, my movement is to help you craft an Epic Life.