Insane Artist
Poor Vincent. Except for the mental illness (I haven't been diagnosed with anything...yet :-P) I identify with van Gogh quite a bit. His early thoughts on art and its relationship to God resonate with me, though later in life he rejected Christianity. In my studies, I found a cool quote I wanted to remember. I don't necessarily agree with it, but it makes one think...
After reading that, and looking at van Gogh's work...doesn't it make sense that he was a great artist? So much passion and opinion! And yet, it makes sense that he was crazy...too much passion and opinion!
And yet, he has a good point. This is an excellent metaphor for life...don't just sit there and be afraid of time and the future! It's scary when one is making huge decisions about life. But don't just sit there and do nothing...take risks! Don't let fear keep you from not doing. Don't define yourself by what you don't do or can't do. With God, all things are possible!
Many people think that they will become good just by doing no harm--but that's a lie...that way lies stagnation, mediocrity.
Just slap anything on when you see a blank canvas staring at you like some imbecile. You don't know how paralyzing that is, that stare of a blank canvas, which says to the painter: you can't do a thing. The canvas has an idiotic stare and mesmerizes some painters so much that they turn into idiots themselves. Many painters are afraid in front of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the real, passionate painter who dares and who has broken the spell of "you can't" once and for all.
~Vincent van Gogh, in a letter to his brother "Theo" in October 1884
After reading that, and looking at van Gogh's work...doesn't it make sense that he was a great artist? So much passion and opinion! And yet, it makes sense that he was crazy...too much passion and opinion!
And yet, he has a good point. This is an excellent metaphor for life...don't just sit there and be afraid of time and the future! It's scary when one is making huge decisions about life. But don't just sit there and do nothing...take risks! Don't let fear keep you from not doing. Don't define yourself by what you don't do or can't do. With God, all things are possible!
3 comments:
I've avoided taking risks most of my life, and it left me craving for what I've missed out on.
So, I recently took on of the biggest risks of my life, and went west~ ;-)
The same can be said for a blank piece of paper. 'The canvas has an idiotic stare and mesmerizes some...' You can tell when someone hasn't ever really tried to write (or paint or act or dance or anything else) when they say something about oh, how hard can it be? I have a new reply now: 'You don't know how paralyzing that is...'
Here's something to ponder: when you feel that you need to step out and take a risk but you don't know what that risk is - what do you do?
Fuzzy--congratulations. I'm glad you're blogging your experience out West!
X10--nice response. As for risk...I've felt that feeling before. Be careful. Stepping in front of a moving bus is not the kind of risk one wants to take. :-P The risk I took was quitting college...although I'm back (how ironic). I'd suggest prayer :-)
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