Friday, February 4, 2011
Impermanence.
Something that I don’t understand about the tendencies of humans in our culture is the need that people feel to hold on to everything. It seems that the majority of people derive their sense of accomplishment from a tangible item that they can display for others to see. Having said this, I am no different. While the majority of people choose to display their success with things that they purchase, I find that my strong tie to physical items is my artwork. I find that after I have invested myself in a piece that I can not let it go because I feel that the time will be a loss when in reality this is not the case. The sense of accomplishment should be derived from knowing that you accomplished the job successfully and that if you did it once, that you are fully capable of doing it again. I have heard that many teachers will create an assignment for students to complete that they then destroy in order to teach them a lesson on this very matter, but I’d never encountered such a teacher until first semester of this year. The assignment was in my drawing and composition class and we were supposed to draw an iconic celebrity on a piece of Mylar paper. The members of the class chose very good subjects such as Betty White, Obama, Hugh Laurie and my choice, James Dean. After my classmates and I had spent a minimum of a week’s amount of work on the drawings our teacher told us to take block erasers and slash the papers. So, a very frustrated and upset class spent the next five minutes erasing into their works of art. Though at the time I was HUGELY aggravated, the lesson most definitely taught me something. It taught me to learn to hold items less preciously. It made me realize that there are certain cultures and religions that stress the concept of impermanence as one of their principle values. If you've taken a world religions class then you know that in Buddhism, the monks construct elaborate sand mandalas only to destroy them upon completion so that they may practice their patience and concentration while meditating. Chalk street artists also have to be able to deal with the concept that their creations will be completly washed away at the next rain. Perhaps the people of our society could benefit from the lessions that these practices have to teach us. Any thoughts?
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This was really cool haha Thoughts wise I am tired at the moment so the brain is not functioning at optimal value, but I can still say something. Yeah I love seeing my merit rewarded with tangible items, its not exactly the item itself that gives me the sense of accomplishment it is th feeling that comes along with it. I swim so my tangible objects are my times getting quicker, I don't understand how I could 'erase'my work unless I sat on a couch for 2 weeks living off cheetos. It would be really interesting to see how many people would actually compete if times were not a factor in the sport. Impermanence is scary, but a good life lesson as well.
ReplyDeleteLife IS impermanence. Everything we have is gone eventually. But the human spirit wants to see tributes to the great ones who have gone before, and to know they will be remembered after they are gone. This refrain goes back to the oral histories of tribal heroes from the Stone Ages, and continues to the vast monuments and statues of today. We struggle to leave our mark before fading. You could no more remove the human desire to be remembered than the instinct for breathing.
ReplyDeleteThat said, a little less attachment to your Beemer or flat screen could be nice :P
I agree. Life is impermanent. I do have a tendency to hold onto things, but some you cannot help but hold on. Pictures, as in photographs, of family and friends help you to remember the good and bad moments in life. They help you remember the ones you love and have lost. Even though that love is forever, it does not hurt to have an object to observe. I hold on to other things too, such a trophies and art, but I know the effort I put into creating or obtaining these items is the most important thing to keep. I have been trying to let go of some things I have kept over the years, hopefully I will be able to do so soon.
ReplyDeleteMy brother in law has the worst time selling his paintings, but I never minded selling my knit stuff. I DO get really attached to weird stuff, like a cashmere sweater that my husband's mom gave me 25 years ago (and it was old then). Or a ring that was my Gram's that my mom gave me for my 40th Bday. When I wear it, I feel so close to my Gram, even though I know it is just a chunk of metal. This is starting to relate to Lindsay's ghost post. I'm stopping now.
ReplyDeleteI think that impermanence can be really hard to deal with. As for me I know that certain things I have a hard time getting rid of. I like keeping things I have done in the past, like papers I wrote for school that I liked, or movie tickets that I go to that either was a good movie or went with people that remind me of a good time. I however do think that if people could deal with letting go of things it would be easier in life. Like previous comments many things in life don't last forever, and if understanding that it won't stay forever it may be easier to lose that, and still understanding that having it, even for that period of time, was better than never having it at all.
ReplyDelete