This is part 3 of our series on “life as a work of art.” Here’s where you can read part 1and part 2.Quick recap before we begin:
In part 1, we introduced the deeper-than-it-sounds idea of “living your life as a work of art.”
In part 2, we explored what it means to step into your full creative power — your artistry — as a human being.
And today, we’re using the question…
“What makes great art?”
…To decode the deeper question of “what makes a great life?”
Many answers could work, here — but three stand out above the rest.
First:
(shout-out to Viktor, Jonas, and Chris for calling this one…)
Originality.
Great art is not a copy-pasted collection of the ideas of others.
It is not mimicry, imitation, impersonation, or a paint-by-numbers account of what it thinks others think great art is.
(re-read that last part)
It is an original idea; the initial spark of a vision never seen before.
And while it may take inspiration from other sources, the aim of a masterwork stands alone.
In the same way:
A great life — your ultimate work of art — is not a tedious trip down the social conveyor belt…
(school – work – marriage – kids – retirement – death)
…But a roaring off-road exploration of creativity that culminates in a grand vision uniquely your own.
Second is:
Skill.
That one’s obvious, but maybe not so obvious is — skill at what?
While great art requires great skills of the craft; painting, music, writing, business, athletics, etc — a great life requires great skills of the mind.
Every action we take, every decision we make, every path we choose to travel begins as an impulse within our mind.
The mind is not only the engine that generates our reality…
It is the filter through which we experience reality itself.
So as the master artist sharpens his craft, the master human sharpens his internal skills; the skills of his mind.
Third:
This is the big one…
So I think we’ll tackle it tomorrow 🙂
Stay tuned.
– T
P.S. Any guesses what it might be?