I believe there is an art to living. Some days flow like poetry in motion. Other days look like paintballs exploded upon the canvas. Life is messy. Children can create chaos. Marriage requires work. There is a technique to learning it all. Art is laborious.
Living With Others
In Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne describes how she learned to cope with living in such close proximity to others the years she spent hiding from the Germans in the Secret Annexe:
"I talk more to myself than to others at mealtimes, which is to be recommended for two reasons. Firstly, because everyone is happy if I don't chatter the whole time, and secondly, I needn't get annoyed about other people's opinions."
One thing I have learned in nearly forty years of living is that it is work to be offended, to be annoyed. It graits on the spirit, wearies the bones, taxes the soul. There is an art to learning to overcome this. A technique to learning patience. In the book of Proverbs we find this nugget of truth: "Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city." (16:32)
Just as there is an art to war, to becoming a warrior, patience is an art learned by those who have mastered the craft. If I want to tackle the art of patience, I need to become a warrior with my spirit, and there is no better way to practice than with my children. When quarrels erupt, tempers flare, little voices yell for the twentieth time in a day, I need to learn to breath deep. Take my own time out. Have a little patience.
Another way to daily tackle the art of patience, is to put a ring on your finger. Marriage is not easy. It requires compromise, self-sacrifice, and humility. But there is a beauty found in two souls clinging together through life's tempest.
When Tim and I first said "I do", our canvas was blank, etched with ideas of what we thought love would be. But now when I look at it, the canvas is complex, beautiful, and alluring, as time, pain, and love sketch colors upon the blank space.
Ordinary Days
Just as there is an art to living with others, there is also an art to waking in the morning and embracing the ordinary routine of a day. Life can seem bland sometimes, lacking the dance the poets romanticize about. Just another ordinary day makes the blankets and pillow appear more inviting than they actually are.
Anne continues in her diary by writing,
"When I get up in the morning, also a very unpleasant process, I jump out of bed thinking to myself, 'You'll be back in a second,' go to the window...sniff at the crack of the window until I feel a bit of fresh air, and I'm awake. The bed is turned down as quickly as possible and then the temption is removed."
I don't think that there is any place more comfortable on earth than my bed in the morning. But a new day awaits. A day with blank space waiting to be filled with the art of our life. All the little moments of our day, combine to make a beautiful picture. Soren Kierkegaard once said,
"The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived."
The Canvas of Your Life
Each day we live we are creating a canvas of art. It's messy. It's beautiful. It's inspiring. It is up to us to determine what we will create. Will it be a piece of art?
Anne's Mummy called this idea of making the most of the life you live, "The Art of Living." I love that. Because
Life is a dance.
Breathing is a gift.
Love is labor.
But somehow the days can combine together to create a masterpiece. This is the art of living, one ordinary day at a time.
Yes, exactly! We are all artists because the Master Artist made us in His image! Delighful! For some reason I was pondering in the wee hours of the morning the phrase "take offense". Then the notion arose, "Another person cannot offend me is I refuse to take it." Hmmm...