I came across this old post from 2006 and inspired myself. Thought it was time to re-publish…
I’m traveling in Berlin at the moment. I arrived yesterday from New York, and last night I was very tired and jetlagged and could not sleep.
If you’ve never experienced it (jetlag), you are truly blessed. If you have, then you know how difficult it can be to stay in balance and some of the challenging thought forms that can come up. In my case I was feeling very anxious about whether I had achieved my purpose in this life. It was a very stressful feeling – in my slightly out of balance state, the thought of possibly having wasted a precious life was almost unbearable.
And then I thought about art. I thought about my love of curating, and the amazing feeling when you open an exhibition and people experience the symphony of art. I remembered how it feels to see someone truly connect with a painting or sculpture. I remembered the great joy of being in the presence of a true artist at work: To me, they are the navigators of the invisible worlds who bring back their journeys and create windows so that others can share the experience.
As I relaxed into these feelings, I realized that no lifetime could ever be wasted for me as long as I had my attention on art. It has nothing to do with fame, or fortune, or even success. Just simply immersing in the flow of the great river of art, wherever it may lead me is what it’s about.
Today I awoke rested and happy. I still did not get enough sleep, but I felt very alive with the realization I had that art is so important to me. And though I did not go to any galleries or exhibits, I did enjoy a lot of very amazing Berlin grafitti as I was walking some of the streets. Suddenly life is deliciously full of happiness and purpose!
(Image from BusinessWeek)