“The purpose of truly transcendent art is to express something you are not yet, but that you can become.” – Alex Grey
It’s March 2014, and I’m sitting high in the hills of Rio De Janiero.
Small, colorful homes sweep down the mountainside into the city below, as the sounds of Carnival roar through the valley.
A new friend sits beside me.
Our conversation begins in the superficial; cute Brazilian girls, new business ideas, unexplored travel destinations.
But it comes to rest, as all interesting conversations do, in philosophy.
That’s when he makes a comment I will never forget:
“Live your life as a work of art.”
At first, I feel myself throwing the idea away.
Sounds like something you’d see on Instagram, I think.
New-age nonsense — bubble-gum spirituality, as a teacher of mine likes to call it.
But then I can’t shake it.
The idea takes root in my mind, and deeper layers of meaning begin to take shape.
Like a time-release capsule, it stays with me as years go by.
And as the idea is slowly decoded, profound insight emerges.
So this week, we’re going to explore this idea — what it means to…
“Live your life as a work of art.”
…And use it as a guiding principle for uncovering the deeper potentials of human life.
Stay tuned…
- T
P.S. To kick our discussion off:
What do you think it means to “live your life as a work of art”?
What’s your first impression of that statement, and the first layer of meaning that comes to your mind?
Hit reply and let me know.
Tomorrow, we’ll go deeper.
P.P.S. Here’s a photo from that day:
