Max, age 7: "When I lived in Seattle, my parents had a friend that drew a piece of broccoli on his car." Me: Long pause. "Wow. That's amazing."
Max: "Yep, it was on the front of his car, right over one of the headlights."
Me: "Even better."
Besides this being one of my favorite short-lived conversations ever, there is something else happening here.
A question I can't help but ask is what this guy would have done if he didn't draw broccoli on his car. Hmmm.
I said in my last post that I believe we are hard-wired for CREATING things. But we suppress creative impulses every day.
Our friend from Seattle (and really all of us) would have reached for an anesthetic...anything that can take us away from experiencing the here and now. They are easy to come by. Some are more socially acceptable than others, but they all serve the same purpose.
So what's so bad about the acceptable anesthetics? They narrow our minds. They allow us to grow remote. They can make us feel threatened and afraid and insecure.
I want nothing to do with that, myself.
It's funny how so many people see artists as dreamers. I think artists are the ones who connect patterns that help explain reality. Whether it's making drawings or souffles or sonatas, it is simply seeing the beauty in the world instead of hiding from it.
Maybe you don't draw veggies on your car (secretly, I think that guy is a winner), but you are an artist.
(This picture is as close as I've ever been to Seattle; it's on the Oregon border and it makes me want more! Classic wind energy use. See the mills on top?)