Yesterday I heard someone say that we live in a crazy time. Not only the political situation but also the weather patterns have been abnormal. The conclusion was that it is unsettling to be alive as a human in todays world. The world is spinning out of control.
I don’t think it has ever been any different. Human errors have always been part of our lives, just like dictators, wars, famine and suppression. There is truly nothing new under the sun. If anything, it is that we have access to news on a non-stop basis. That is unsettling.
When I was teaching calligraphy, some of my students were surprised that the tools would not make them write any better. I explained that the ‘scribes’ often were monks who wrote in a large room ten hours a day, every day for years on end. They were not able to take a plane to a warm resort or watch movies on their phones. Instead they became really good at constructing each letter and eventually making words and sentences while the world was spinning.
One student stormed out the first day and said, “I am not going to sit still for three hours.” But this is what it takes. In this pure concentrated state of focus, our minds have the chance to calm down. In all fairness, there is nothing we can possibly do about the suppression of the Taliban, nor influence a Russian leader or a hurricane that is coming our way. Drawing and painting transports us to another side of the same world. Meditation works much the same way. It prepares us to take the right action when the time comes.
Don’t go crazy yourself. Calm down. Learn to draw an apple a day. Learn to write calligraphy. We humans are the only species that are capable of doing these things. Embracing beauty is a way to become a happy human being.
