Consider for a moment that your life is a creative process. That with every choice you make you are expressing what is important to you and communicating that to the world. While there are countless events that occur over which you have no creative control, your responses to those events are the marks you make on the canvas of your life.
A painter who is seeking to convey something that is important to him considers the various media to use, the content he will portray, the methods of application that will best convey the tones, themes, and mood he is seeking to express.
Imagine your life is like this painting. Each choice you make is a brushstroke on the canvas of time, taken together as the creation of your life. Over the passing of days, weeks, years and decades, patterns emerge. Unexpected shifts take place; recurring themes play out in surprising or predictable ways; colors, textures and shapes combine to give impressions of feelings, values, yearnings and hurts.
As the painter seeks to create a work that will inform the world in a particular way – perhaps to add more beauty into the world, to inspire thought, to evoke outrage, compassion or consideration about a particular issue – so do you have the opportunity to consider “in what way do I wish the expression of my life to inform the world I inhabit?” Do you wish to create expressions driven by care? Curiosity? Connection?
In what ways are you deliberately marking the canvas of your life so as to move your creation towards the values that you would like to see more of in this world?
In what ways are the brushstrokes of your life informed more by the painful, chaotic, or confusing aspects of the socio-cultural landscape we are navigating at this time?
If you wish to be more deliberate with the choices you are making so that they reflect and express more of the values you wish to contribute to the world, then consider the palate of materials you are using. You can think of your creative palate as the readily available resources you are gathering about you which inform the creative process.
The media you consume, the books or blogs you are reading, the ways you are spending your time and attention create impressions that shape your mind and responses. If you find yourself doom scrolling the internet and wanting to have more peace, care and compassion, perhaps the issue isn’t with who you are, but rather that you are sourcing materials inappropriate to the task of inspiring the kinds of experiences and responses you are wanting to access.
If you wish to live your life as a masterpiece reflecting the values you hold dear, then consider the following:
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Get clear with what matters deeply to you
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Ask yourself what you do that honors those values and priorities
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Identify what gets in the way of living by those values and priorities
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Connect with resources that will support you in keeping those values and priorities front of mind
While you will never have control of what happens to you and in the larger world, if you do the above, you can express the values and personal qualities that you wish to contribute to this world in your choices and responses you make. Our world could greatly benefit from the contributions of more of what you value.
What would you like the painting of your life to express?