Life as an Art Gallery
Imagine you’re in an art gallery, staring at a painting.
It fills an entire wall in tones of gray and black, with sharp, jagged lines.
Looking at it, you feel unsettled, and it’s hard to look away because your entire field of vision is taken over by this dark and vivid scene in front of you.
Guernica, Pablo Picasso
Suddenly, you feel a tap on the shoulder, and as you turn your head, you catch sight of another painting on the adjacent wall.
You turn and stand in front of this painting.
It’s smaller, so you draw closer, taking in the bright, jewel-like colors as your spirit begins to lift.
A Farm Garden With Flowers, Gustav Klimt
Both paintings are in the same gallery. Both exist right there on the walls around you. And all throughout the gallery are more paintings of different sizes, styles, and moods.
In this visualization, the art gallery can be our life, composed of myriad moments—the dark shadowy experiences and the unforgettable bright spots… as well as the little glimpses of beauty and sweetness in a smile, a kind word, or a sunset.
The darker moments have a magnetism that pulls our attention, but we can remind ourselves: both darkness and light exist in the same world, in the same life. “Let me remember to stand in front of the light, too.”
I’d like to share a very short meditation from the “Take a Moment” series— Awaken Joy— as a tap on the shoulder to invite you toward the brightness in your life.
Let this be an invitation to turn your gaze (literally and metaphorically) toward all that is good, delightful, and joyous in your world today.