honesty

I have to be more honest with my work. I have to go a little deeper. It is a total waste of time to be “unreal” and what is art if not about expressing human emotion and consequently causing response. Sometimes art only needs to delight – a simple and pleasant emotion drawn from a simple and aesthetic display of words or colors or shapes – I “paint” a lot of those kinds of “pictures” – “I’ll go make supper”, for instance. What if I’d have said, “I know someone who will go without supper tonight?” – that would stir different emotions – instead of taking you back and feeling warm somewhere in your misty privileged  past, you might feel  awkward here in your abundant  extant. Or maybe not, maybe you feel a bit smug and think – “Well, they should have made better choices – like me”. Hmmmm, choices like having parents who were devoted to you or choices like having parents at all. We don’t all have the same frame of reference and that reference is our perspective of the world, it is how we all respond – from OUR frame of reference. I am not writing this to suggest enabling people or make flimsy excuses for those who blame everything on their past because I tire quickly of that lame attitude, but at the same time, I cannot deny that we all see the world through our unique experiences and an effort should be made to try to understand each other and not be so stricken with the middle class disease of pre judging – because guess what – you are probably wrong – so incredibly wrong. I have caught myself many times; I’m ashamed to say, in that situation. Things are not as they seem. It’s Sunday and this is my overt contribution to my spiritual self – it is doubtful that I will see the inside of a physical church today but I know I will try to see others as they truly are and not judge them from my frame of reference – and I will try to get out of myself and understand why someone is hungry tonight and appreciate and know why I am not.  

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