Did you look at this picture and wonder what was going on in the sculptor’s mind ? Well, I did – and not just when I first glanced at it or was taking the photograph, but several dekkos later, well, I have to admit – i just didn’t “get” it !

Days later, I was mentioning the fact to my friend, one who is better “versed” in the arts than I can even aspire to be, and got some very interesting feedback: how much do we really support the arts these days ? How many true “patrons” of art do we really have, vis-a-vis, say a few hundred years ago when (arbitrary as they may have been) kings and rulers and emperors across the lands provided a thriving environment where all kinds of art flourished: painting, sculpting, music, poetry, dancing – to mention just a few.

Regrettably, in general, today we are all taught to “follow the yellow brick road”.  From childhood, it is impressed upon us that we should work hard, study hard and aspire for careers that will provide for a “good life” (or go join the family business if one exists). While the exhortation is undoubtedly well intentioned, it takes away from the rich, albeit discomforting, period of self discovery, to find our true passions and to truly make a living doing what we like rather than console ourselves with platitudes that instead ask us to “like what we do”. We end up, often, leading the “good life” but not a “rich life”. (And if you thought that by “rich life” I was referring to riches or wealth, you will perhaps not find this post relevant or interesting 😉

I love the non conformity of  art. I can’t draw or paint to save my life (really) and I have stared at Picasso paintings wondering “What the…” but yet, I delight in the fact that the artist did exactly what he (or she) wanted to do – the world be damned ! I wish that we give our own children the freedom – and space- to discover themselves and not bind them in arbitrary strands of judgmental and societal propriety. For freedom is true richness and the joy of living is the ultimate luxury.