Tag Archives: culture

Van Gogh Tried to Show Us

I was very fortunate to visit an immersive exhibit of Vincent van Gogh’s art in 2022. Being already a big fan, and so therefore knowing something of Vincent’s history and work, mostly I was curious about how anyone could compress the infinite experience of “Van Gogh” into limited time and space. For Vincent van Gogh is not just bigger than life because he became famous, and he did not become famous simply at the whim of some influential art dealer who could persuade his clients to open their wallets.

In actual fact, Vincent despaired that anyone would see or appreciate what he was trying to say to the world, and he died poor and believing that no one ever would. What was he trying to say to you and I? For my part, I see a message that life is big, precious, beautiful, and yes, sometimes tragic, but when we see the challenges and despair of others, we develop compassion, we become a more integral part of humanity.

Part of the exhibit was a 1/2-hour movie display of his works in an immense room, as his paintings undulated and merged in and out, coming to life as they projected onto all four walls, the color and life also spilling down and outward onto the floor and the viewers. The objective was clearly to bring the viewers inside the art, so that they could perhaps more easily feel it and become part of it. I wondered as I watched the delighted viewers, no doubt some of them experiencing Vincent’s work for the first time, what they were feeling? If I could come up with one word that would encapsulate the experience, what might that be?

The word CREATIVITY came to mind. Creativity is the very essence of who we are as humans, and we may not be able to quite put it into words, but we FEEL it. Deep down we know it as a certain truth. We ARE creative, part of a mysterious creative force, and endowed with our own creative power through our minds and hearts to manifest a better (but not yet imagined) world. There is great joy in feeling the power of that, and it showed on the faces of the viewers.

Here’s the other part of that thought. Is it possible that Vincent van Gogh’s immersive exhibits are so hugely popular right now because we know at a deep level, but not yet fully admitting it to ourselves, that there is a force at work of late that is trying to destroy our creative power? Van Gogh’s work is not just simply an antidote in troubled times, but rather it is a view of what is possible, our POTENTIAL.

I would say that is true, but it is for you to decide. I see the juxtaposition of the world they want for us, the ones who make the rules and use coercion and force to “create it”. They project a cold future of transhumanism, where we will have completely lost the warmth, love, connectedness, and most importantly the full creative potential of who we are. They are trying to convince us that we are defective, when nothing could be farther from the truth.

So my final question to you is this: What kind of world do you want to see in your future, and for the future of all children who will inherit this planet? For my part, I’m on the side of Vincent van Gogh.

What Makes Happy?

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There is a song out there that epitomizes a life philosophy, which if we all embraced it, would make the world a phenomenally better place. Somewhere along the way, society’s mandate for winning at life became about beating the other guy to “the goods”. Success started to mean a bigger house and more TVs.

But this song, when it wafted from the radio when I was a kid, spoke to me even then of how life should be. Make Someone Happy was written by Jule Styne, Adolph Green and Betty Comden, and first performed December 26, 1960. This song has never gone out of style – read the list of 100+ performers who sang it over 31 years – because although admittedly romantic in nature, it also expresses a fundamental truth about life.

When we are of service to others, when we are busy making someone else happy, we become happy too. Service to others is a core philosophy that humanity is working on understanding and adopting as a collective, in order that we may shift to a higher level of vibration.

Look around you. What something can you do today for someone you know (or a stranger) that would contribute to that person’s happiness, your own happiness in the doing of it, and the bigger picture of the growth of humanity?

Let’s bring some old-fashioned values back into style.

“Make someone happy.
Make just one someone happy
And you will be happy too…”

A quote by Norman Vincent Peale, from his book The Power of Positive Thinking:

The way to happiness:
Keep your heart free from hate,
your mind from worry.
Live simply, expect little, give much.
Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others.
Try this for a week, and you will be surprised.

A quote from Becoming Bigger: In a world that wants to keep you small

Give yourself the gift of your heart’s desire as young as you are able. Live the life that will make you happy, not the one your peers or parents or society deems to be acceptable. It’s YOUR life. Make it a happy one!

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Perfect

Escape

Blink, they’re gone

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Blink

Mysterious glim,
fleeting light of forest nights.
Magic extinguished.

A little magic for your Monday. Enjoy it while you can, as sadly the entrancing little insect that conjures childlike wonder is also on the endangered list. Our insects are disappearing at an epidemic rate.

Shrugging it off is not an option. Insects are at the bottom of the food chain. As they disappear, it affects every living creature that depends on insects for food, not to mention other repercussions related to the balance of nature. And on it goes. We may feel like it is mildly affecting us now, but later, perhaps not. The Monarch butterfly here, the firefly there,… where will it end? We humans like to think we are immune from extinction, but, are we?

If you’re wondering about the science behind fireflies, I found Scientific American’s How and why do fireflies light up? a very interesting read. When I was a kid, I thought fireflies were pure magic.

Blink. They’re gone.