Paintings. poems. and gifts

Quote of the day: When I say be creative, I don’t mean you should all go and become great painters and great poets. I simply mean let your life be a painting, let your life be a poem. —Osho
Today, I hung my Timeless exhibit at One Yoga, 721 W. 26th Street in Minneapolis.  I had a hard time firing up to prepare for the exhibit. My procrastination left me scrambling this morning to get everything organized and prepared.

I often ambivalent before an exhibit. Is it really worth it to go to all this trouble? Will people like my photos? Will they even notice them?  Will anyone buy anything?

I notice that these thoughts are based on the notion that it will only be worth my time and effort to do this exhibit if people like my work, notice it, or buy it.

I ask myself, “Does it matter if people like my work, notice it, or buy it?”

To be honest, the voice of my ego pops up immediately and says, “Oh course it matters. Why else would I put in all this effort!”

But then I ask myself another question, “If no one ever saw what I created, never spoke to me about it, and never bought a single photograph, would I still keep doing what I’m doing?”

Yes! I would! Yes!

My heart is so clear in its knowing. Creating through making and sharing my photographs brings me great joy.

To express myself through making photographs, see the world through eyes of beauty, work hard to master my craft, and feel my own sense of accomplishment is why I do this work.

When I make prints, frame them and hang them in a public space where people can enjoy them, I am sharing a little slice of the joy that making the photos has brought me. They are my painting, poem, and gift to the world.

I know that I am privileged to have the opportunity to create like this.I know that the idea of “do what you love” often comes from white, upper-class privileged people. I didn’t do what I loved for most of my work life. But even in my career I was lucky and privileged to do work that mattered to me.

I deeply believe that the way forward for our world is to figure out a way for people to create more, play more, and to see and experience beauty in their everyday lives. We don’t need more things and luxuries in our lives, we need more connections with one another and with nature.

We need to work—without a doubt—but we also need to create and play. Some of us are lucky and our creativity and play are our work. Most of us do not have such luxury.

We do what we need to do to survive and build a life.

Whatever you do, whether it’s farming, waiting tables, building bridges, collecting garbage, working in a factory, or cashiering in a grocery store, my wish for you is that your life becomes the canvas you paint on—that you weave beauty or justice or kindness or love or joy into your daily life and into your work.