The other day, I asked my new friend Nathalie, an artist, how she knew when a painting was done. I am paraphrasing, but she explained to me that she uses a multi-layered process, so the first half, even more, is a building up, without a real plan of knowing where the painting is going. At some point, something starts to reveal to her. She works to connect with the painting toward the something that is speaking and showing itself to her. She will look at the piece for anything in it that bothers her, then she will work there. Her painting is done when she can look at the piece, and she no longer feels any incongruity existing.
I am curious about this, because I think about the time and energy one puts into building, forming, carving her/his life. There is a temptation to overwork and overanalyze, going too far and pushing past what works, beyond balance. Then, even if we do attain our goal, we mistakenly cling and desperately grasp the beautiful life we worked so enthusiastically to achieve. What we are really learning and building is the flow to beautiful moments. Clinging to a belief, fearing the loss of a certain life, immediately makes it less beautiful. The skill we are truly honing is the ability to appreciate and invite many beautiful moments into our life.
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