Get Painting!

Her house was a dream come true. Everything was neat and tidy, and in the kitchen and closets there were labels for everything. “There’s a place for everything and everything is in its place,” she said proudly. I was as troubled by the organization as I was inspired. I felt there was room to breathe, but also felt suffocated.

I remember a time when I was setting up a new studio. I bought shelves and containers, as well as labels and sharpies. I spent weeks putting my pastels here and oils there, while also making sure my books were arranged by subject in descending height order. When I was done, I remember a friend’s reaction: “So, have you done any painting?”

Regardless of whether we’re artists or not, the desire to organize and make sense of the world affects us all. We desperately try to put the people we know and the things that happen into a system that brings a sense of order. There are all sorts of containers and labels. The problem comes when we run out of containers, or our sharpies run out of ink. Eventually, judging every person, place, or thing, or feasting on the newest gossip stops working. Creating stories or surrounding ourselves with people with the same world view only gives us temporary breathing room. Organizing life in such ways reduces life’s complexities. We spend so much time making sense of our lives we don’t live.

I have a friend who likes to say we need to “live with the questions,” and another who says we need to “live in the mystery.” It sounded New Age to me when I first heard it, but I’ve come to embrace its truth. Instead of finding a box for every person, instead of creating artificial explanations, instead of ignoring contradictions, I want to accept the incongruities and embrace the messiness. Instead of organizing, I want to get painting.