“Each of us is an artist of our days; the greater our integrity and awareness, the more original and creative our time will become…..”
~John O’Donohue
Today I met with a young couple whose wedding I am conducting in a few weeks. They have been a delightful pair with which to meet. I have to admit to finding something intriguing and fun in the relationship that happens with each couple whose wedding I participate in but this couple has been particularly enjoyable. Partly it is that they are so sure of what they believe to be important in their relationship and the words they have chosen for the ceremony reflect that. It is a great thing to witness.
It is also rare to have a couple show up with words of someone like John O’Donohue for their wedding. This beloved Irish poet, theologian and wisdom figure is dear to my heart. I hadn’t thought about his work for awhile. His words bring a groundedness….always a good thing. His untimely death three years ago at age 54 is still heart-breaking.
How often do you feel like an artist of your days? How often do you even feel like you are the driver in the car of your days? If we allow our days to flow out one after the other, doing the things on our lists, driven by some outward sense of ‘what must be accomplished’, it is easy to come to the end of a day exhausted but with no art to hang in the gallery. Ever have that feeling, that experience? I know I have.
And yet if I allow myself to be challenged by O’Donohue’s words, I begin to feel a sense of exhilaration. What if I paid more attention to the canvas on which I am painting my life than to the handwritten list of paints I never take the time to buy? What if the song that is waiting to be sung through me is the one that someone needs to heal the hurt that is killing them? What if I move from the chairs that line the wall to the center of the floor and begin to dance the joy, or the sorrow, that lurks just beneath the surface? What if?
To be the artist of our days requires we know ourselves well. It requires we put aside the masks we wear to feel safer,in control. It demands we become aware of the gifts the Spirit is birthing through us with every breath we take. This can take some digging but if we want to become artists of our days it requires getting dirty, sometimes requires even making a mess.
What is the art the Great Artist is calling forth from you this day? How are you listening for that sometimes quiet voice that urges you to the awareness of the gifts the world so needs, the gifts only you can offer? This art….. that is our lives…… is not for the faint of heart. But it is for everyone. Everyone who has the courage to be their authentic self, to pick up the paints in whatever form they arrive at the door, and to paint with brushstrokes unique and enlivening.
On this day I am thankful for the art created by John O’Donohue. For his challenging and inspiring words. And for the art that was his living.