Authenticity and the Pursuit of Excellence

By
Candice Bohannon & Julio Reyes
*The following text was written with the intention of being spoken aloud in front of an audience at
The Representational Art Conference 2015, and therefor is not written as a formal academic
paper or essay.

First, a little about us: We are not philosophers, we are primarily artists and that
is how we make our living. We wrote this paper together and believe it is a
perfect meld of both of our voices and our ideas.
What we hope to impress upon you with our paper is the important role that your
thinking and your personal philosophy will have on the outcome of your creative
life. We believe it to be the biggest determining factor in your success or failure
as an artist or in any endeavor.
We realize how pretentious the title of this speech is, Authenticity and
Excellence - two very lofty concepts for two lowly artists in their early 30s to
cover! We started out by writing a 30 page paper on things we thought could
help our fellow artists, and it ended up sounding like an endless nagging list of
honey-dos and we thought we cant present THIS!! Theyll hate us!
So we realized, that what we really wanted to do, was to speak to you frankly,
about some of the things that helped us tap into our own sources of inspiration,
which led us towards our unique artistic visions.
We are not going to give everybody a one-size-fits-all answer. Instead we want
to talk about the tools you might need to cultivate ideas and inspiration, and to
manage the many difficulties of the creative life, hopefully to encourage you to
cultivate an authentic vision through the practice of excellence.
Why is this important? Well, we felt it would be best to start by looking at our
world today.

Our Current Context and the Need for Authenticity

In the West, the internet and social media have moved into our lives like
juggernauts, re-arranging and re-prioritizing our daily routines - promising social
connectivity, and the wisdom of the ages.
We can now peer into the studios and private experiences of our favorite artists,
and literally watch them on screen, as they work on new paintings and go about

their craft - as though it were performance art. Any technical skill, or tool of the
trade can be sought out. We can pull up hi res images of the Ghent altarpiece
even though it is thousands of miles away, and we can see what a distant friend
ate for lunch it is all just a few clicks away. It seems we have solved the
problem of information, and it comes with the implied promise, that with so much
information will come wisdom that with all the right information and techniques
gathered, the masterpieces too, will come as easy as copy/paste.
As we interact with people on the internet from around the globe, the world
seems to be somehow smaller, friendlier and more intimate than before. Artists
can work in remote locations yet have international careers, and it is no longer
necessary to live in bustling art hubs like Brooklyn or LA.
But the promise of connectivity (we are seeing) comes at a cost. You are getting
connectivity, but you are also getting the illusion of closeness both distracting
us from our real lives, and distancing us from real physical connections. We are
constantly finding ourselves pulled from the our offline experiences, to plug into
a virtual reality, where the information we look for can be found with ease but
wisdom and understanding are much harder to come by. The more our primary
interactions become virtual, the less time we spend in the moment. We develop
fewer close connections and increase the likelihood of experiencing social angst
when confronted with real interaction. Through this kind of steady conditioning
we will impair some of our most valuable human traits: the ability to empathize,
and to have conscious contact with our true-selves. If we are not careful, we
can become starved for a real community, real intimacy, and authentic
connection. Today, it is easy to confuse information for wisdom; style for
substance; and virtual connectivity for closeness.
Neuroscientist Dr. Stephen Porges states that: Many of the clinical disorders
being treated today are in people who have difficulty regulating their emotional
state with other humans, and gravitate to regulating with objects. Whether we call
it autistic, social anxiety, or the internet, their nervous system does not enable
reciprocal social interaction to feel safe, so they can't get the physiological and
emotional benefits of well-regulated human-to-human physiological states.
Instead, now, healthy social behavior becomes something which to them is
disruptive our nervous system needs these positive physiological states of face
to face human interaction to promote creativity and bold new ideas and positive
social behavior But what's happening is that less information is actually getting
in, and oppositional behaviors are on the rise. (from Polyvagel Theory by Dr.
Stephen Porges, 6-20-12 webinar for the National Institute for Clinical Application
of Behavioral Medicine [NICABM])
The problem today seems to us, a matter of spirit. Despite medical advances to
increase our physical health, and expand the human lifespan, science has yet to

come up with a pill that cures soul sickness, loneliness, or lack of empathy
and in our humble opinion, its doubtful it ever will. A soul needs nourishment
and harmony, as much as the body does. We need art and beauty to attend to
these problems.
Socrates warned us, The unexamined life is not worth living.
We are starved for something real, for something excellent, for something
authentic, for true connection, for deep understanding, for rich experiences, and
for wisdom but how do we find it? How can we expect to see it in our culture, if
we do not first cultivate it in ourselves? How do we seek it in the raw spectrum of
hum-drum experiences? How do we mine for that lasting value? and when we
have found it, how are we to re-shape, re-present, and re-invest it into our unique
endeavors???
These are the topics we will be wrestling with today.

The Pursuit of Excellence

Excellence in its simplest form means: producing your best in any given situation
-- striving to be better than the last time.
Authenticity is the bottom line essence of who we are and excellence can be
the means to come in contact with, and further refine or amplify that essence.
Authenticity is a spiritual and existential path but it can also mean, being in
the zone a state of congruence in which the body, mind, heart, and soul, are
all working together in harmony. We are authentic when we are congruent
living into our truest and most capable selves. This harmony is a kind of
excellence.
For all you artists in the audience, I am sure you know what it means to be in the
zone. When huge chunks of time evaporate, and your entire being is solely
focused in on the work. You are completely in the moment, and nothing can
distract you. You could say, that in this moment, you are being authentic while
practicing excellence.
We believe that this same authentic-harmony experienced while being in the
zone can also be cultivated in an artistic vision, and in a life well lived.

The Philosopher Aristotle had a pretty solid idea about this back in 300 BC. He
said, Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly
because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we
have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence therefore, is not
an act, but a habit.
Being more authentic in your art is a natural result of being more authentic in life.
It is a result of being in touch and comfortable with expressing the REAL you;
your real experience in the world, how you really see, how you really feel, and
what you hold true and dear. It is your body, mind, and spirit, all in service of the
same goal attempting to come in contact with and to shape your deepest
sense of who you are from what love.
N.C. Wyeth had something to say about this: We make a great deal of these
simple experiences. I believe them to be the real foundation of one of the most
profound ethical ideas in regard to early training: to obtain the utmost of pleasure
and inspiration from the simplest and homeliest events of the life about you.
In this age of information and technology, it is easy to lose focus and even
interest in the simplest events of the life about you. For a robust creative life, it is
important to have a solid practical, personal philosophy, one that bridges the gap
between ideas and action, between thinking and doing, and cultivates sustained
creativity for the purposes of turning the lead of life into the gold of artistic
expression. We are going to talk about 5 important concepts -- 5 things that can
take an artist out of a period of stagnation and into a period of growth. Things we
all have the ability to start doing right now to help fill the cup of inspiration, get
reinvigorated and motivated in the studio, to improve our craft, to accomplish big
dreams, and pursue artistic excellence.

The Ability To Absorb

Be present! Be like a sponge, and actively gather up the moment. Learn more,
live in the moment, become a great student, become a student of life, of history,
of techniques and people, make it a goal to extract more from each and every
experience.
Imagine the artist as a great vessel; a pitcher that can be filled up with ideas,
experiences, and inspiration and when full to the brim, can be poured out and
into a work of art. It is a constant, beautiful cycle of filling ourselves up so that we
may pour out!

[Now on a personal note: (Candice tells a story about how Julio and she,
sometimes work way to many hours in the studio, and dont always take the time
to find rest, relaxation, and inspiration. Julio and Candice realized that too
much of this would leave them with nothing to pour out.) We found that we
had to make an effort to put ourselves in the way of adventure - to go find and
experience new things, for what we would learn and what they would make of us
to pursue them.]
Adopt a boundless, child-like innocence and curiosity become fascinated
try to catch all you canit is exciting!
The writer Henry David Thoreau said it well: The scenery, when it is truly seen,
reacts on the life of the seer. How to live. How to get the most life. How to extract
its honey from the flower of the world. That is my every day business. I am as
busy as a bee about it. I ramble over all fields on that errand, and am never so
happy as when I feel myself heavy with honey and wax.
Humans cannot live on bread alone. Nourish the mind, and nourish the soul.
There really has been no better time to be curious, to be a student, to find the
information you seek. The internet brings the knowledge of the ages and a world
of information to your fingertips!
Your job is to go out and find what is of value to you! Find it in yourself, in your
culture, in others, in your experiences, in books and wherever your curiosities
take you. We must thirst for value, thirst for ideas, and drink it up wherever we
can! If you dont know something, find someone who does and ask them to
teach you!
[ Julio speaks candidly about how he taps his network of resources, by calling,
texting, emailing, etc asking questions, taking notes, and humbly absorbing as
much information as he can from those around him.]
Read books about art, about materials, about the business of art, about artists
read plays, the classics - Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, Danteyou name it.
Read sci-fi, history, graphic novels, how-tos... philosophyetc.
[Julio interjects by telling everyone of the importance of building a personal
library; full of inspiration and information. He describes Candices and his,
personal library, and notes how the artists they look to and respect, also have
collections of cherished books of their own.]

And here is a warning: beware of false value, the illusion of value and beware

of the great deserts. Beware of places where you have to search endlessly for
the smallest drop of it it is not worth the time. The cost of time is too valuable.
Some of us end up spending so much time in the deserts that we begin to believe
the mirage on the horizon is actually water we scoop up the sand to quench
our thirst!
Think of all the distractions keeping us from value. Think of this thing right here
[Candice pulls out her smart phone] constantly buzzing and pinging and pulling
us from this moment -- distracting us from total focus, total commitment to the
task at hand, breaking the spell, and keeping us from being in the zone.
We really have to give ourselves space, and make time for rich experiences
away from the hustle and bustle, from the stress and the noise or our very busy
lives. Technology has made this harder on us than on artists of any other
century. Make the effort, take the time to absorb all that there is to be
absorbed. We must drink from the deep well if we are to quench our thirst and
find the true value.

The Ability To Respond

Respond! It means: let it move you - let it effect you - let it change the way you
see, and let that change the way you feel - it might even change the way you act.
Ideas and experiences can be life changing! I bet this has happened to almost
every artist in this room; that moment you had a profound experience in front of a
painting or a sculpture, or a performance and from that moment on, you knew
you needed to be an artist and to make art for the rest of your life.
Art has that unique power.
[Julio tells the personal story of when he was 16 and he had the experience of a
lifetime. His soccer team toured Europe and represented the U.S. in an
international tournament involving more countries than the World Cup. It was an
incredible cultural experience; and yet, the thing that would change the course of
his life forever, was his first encounter with the art of Europe the Uffizi, the
Sistine Chapel Michelangelos Pieta ]
Be fully engaged! Allow yourself to be emotionally responsive as well as
intellectually stimulated. It would be wise to minimize the ego as things unfold
about you. Its not easy let down your barriers and trust enough to become
vulnerable. We should volunteer to allow life in to let it touch our hearts as
well as our minds.

Our emotions have to be educated as much as our thoughts. Especially as

artists, it is very important for us. If we arent moved by a particular subject
matter, then how are we to move anyone else? It is so important to feel deeply,
so that we can express deeply. There is a saying we like: Take me high, take
me low, but dont leave me unchanged.
If you pursue your true interests and curiosities keenly, you raise your chances of
encountering those things that move you most deeply. Part of letting life touch
you is knowing where to look, and allowing yourself to go there - to plumb the
depths wherever doing so would give your life added meaning, even if it what you
find frightens you, or overwhelms you.
As artists and creative types, we have the gifts of keen perception and emotional
sensitivity. We often feel intensely, and can sense the drama in a situation
someone else may find mundane.
We are not scientists analyzing cold calculations and data we are artists and
creatives. When we create we bind together the emotional, intellectual, and
physical information of the world into paint, pencil or clay. We are a lens
through which light and color; as well as emotion, memory, and meaning all pass.
It is the ability to empathize that makes us human. To look at a face and to know
what another must be feeling. Even at our greatest heights as artists, we hope to
transmit some semblance of this.
American Pulitzer Prize winning writer Pearl Buck described it this way, The truly
creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born
abnormally, inhumanely sensitive. To them.. a touch is a blow, a sound is a
noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is
a god, and failure is death.
This supreme sensitivity to the world is one of our greatest gifts. It is this exact
quality that enables us to pour out and touch an audience through our work. It is
that sensitivity that prompted all the great poetry of the world, the great music, art
and dance, Shakespeare and Beethoven, Rembrandt and Kathe Kollowitz. It is
perhaps because we are so intensely moved and struck by the world we live in,
that we are absolutely driven to create, to pour it out again before it drives us
mad from festering within - to express it and impress it into a work of art. Often, it
is the process of creating that helps us to fully comprehend the feelings we were
having - a kind of revelation!
The writer Pearl Buck also said this: Add to this cruelly delicate organism the
overpowering necessity to create, create, createso that without the creating of
music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, their very breath

is cut offThey must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown,
inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating.
Yes, our greatest gift can also be our greatest burden. A drive to create at all
costs, and they can be very great costs The creative life can isolate us from
loved ones, turn us inward so much so that we become Narcissistic, and loose
sight of what is important in this world. Constantly wrestling with deep emotional
responses can be taxing and can become a kind of self-imposed torture. Take
this parable, The Poet, by the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard:
What is a poet? An unhappy man who in his heart harbors a deep anguish, but
whose lips are so fashioned that the moans and cries which pass over them are
transformed into ravishing music. His fate is like that of the unfortunate victims
whom the tyrant Phalaris imprisoned in a brazen bull, and slowly tortured over a
steady fire; Their cries could not reach the tyrant's ears so as to strike terror into
his heart; when they reached his ears they sounded like sweet music. And men
crowd around the poet and say to him, "Sing for us soon again which is as
much as to say, "May new sufferings torment your soul, but may your lips be
fashioned as before; for the cries would only distress us, but the music, the
music, is delightful
Perhaps the artists gift of sensitivity is also our great burden. Often the key
ingredient that brings a work to life is rooted in strong emotion, due to suffering
and life-experience. Sometimes overpowering feelings need to be managed and
cooled by the intellect not set free to do their damage. So that you can feel
deeply; and not be crushed by feelings that have grown out of proportion.
What happens if you dont manage these emotions in a healthy way? Many in
history have tried and failed in attempts to self-medicate as a way of dealing with
this burden of sensitivity. To have a long life of making art and psychological well
being, we think it would be wise to have a personal philosophy that
acknowledges and attends to this kind emotional openness and vulnerability.
We need to learn the ability to respond to the moment in spite of the danger.
Life lays before us a great banquet, and our job is to savor! Savor it let it
move us, so that we dont miss out on all the treasure that may lay hidden.

The Ability to Reflect:

The next important segment of your practical philosophy should be reflection.
Absorb, Respond, Reflect. It is so important to go back over what we have
learned, where we have gone, who we spoke to, how it felt, why we did it, why
we didnt, what happened, what didnt. It is important to tie together the

experiences, to find the greater conclusions that are available in hindsight.

We heard this long ago - not sure where - but it always resonated with us: The
means by which we live are not the reasons for which we live.
Lets get down and be honest about our motivations. What drives us are often
things that we think are important to us: work, other peoples opinions, trends on
social media all these things can overshadow, and cause us to neglect crucial
self-knowledge. Which, in our opinion, can create a feeling of being rootless;
drifting in the current, and a longing to know your true self.
You have heard it said - To thine own self be true. and The truth shall
set you free.
Reflection is a tool that allows you to access and come to know the truth about
your own attitudes, practices and patterns. By making a study of our own
thoughts and habits, we come to a clearer realization of who we really are: our
bottom line essence. We can then learn to reinvest our energies and life-force
back into those principles and beliefs that work in the service of our own nature
- rather than in opposition to our own nature.
Hegel conceived of freedom as being the liberation from ignorance or illusion. As
you come to know yourself, you will better know what it is you really need, and
where to look for it. This is vital in knowing where you are headed; envisioning
where you want to go; and it will help you to shape a more informed definition of
what excellence and progress mean to you.
May we suggest, that after this conference - or even after listening to todays
scheduled speakers - that you take a little time to reflect upon what youve
heardthe people youve metthe ideas here that might have pricked your
imagination. Practice the art of reflection.
If we are not careful to capture what was said, to lock it in, and to take it with us,
the bustling, busy life will rob us all! If we are constantly running forward, we
never get a chance to look back, to stop and check the compass, to make sure
we are still going in the direction that is most advantageous. Dont let it slip
through your fingers!
In the day of the impulse purchase, of the cult of the new of the cult of the
young of this seasons latest fashion trends of the race, at all costs, to get our
15 minutes of fame Taking the time to reflect has become frighteningly alien
to us. Some people are afraid to look back, afraid of what they will see: failures,
regrets, painful experiences, confusion, lost time The truth of our past can be
like Medusas gaze. The truth, we fear, might turn our hearts to stone.

But these are only the ghosts of the past. You are not that same person now.
You are the person who looks back with curiosity instead of fear, with the intent
to improve, not cover up, with an open heart and sympathetic eyes! We are
looking for gold, not ghosts.
There is so much treasure to be gained by reflection, by going back over it all -the highs, the lows, the lessons, the regrets, the joys and even the pain. We can
mine for the gems there; for the precious ore. We can learn how to do it better
next time, how to tweak our approach in order to maximize our potential for
learning, enjoying, and for living well.

The Ability To Act:

T.E. Lawrence once said: All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by
night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity,
but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams
with open eyes, to make it possible.
Yes, we are the dreamers of the day. We must act on our dreams with open
eyes. Action is essential! It is the ability to embark on a new adventure; the
ability to channel all those experiences, feelings and reflections into new
disciplines, new work, and a new plan.
Discipline is the bridge between thought and accomplishment, the bridge
between a dream and a finished work of art, the bridge between necessity and
productivity. Its where the rubber meets the road. It is the dirty business of
actualizing, and re-shaping your character through habit. Remember we are
what we repeatedly do. And so it is, that by incremental changes, and
repetition, we can change our essential nature.
There is no greater moment, than when you realize you can take definitive action
on behalf of your own dreams.
Take action, otherwise the wisdom, the insight, and the inspiration is wasted.
Focus on starting the practices and new disciplines that will improve your self,
your skills, your hand, your knowledge, your color theory, your health, your
wealth, your business acumen, your people skills Tell yourself: its not, if I
could, I would it is, if I would, I could If I WILL, I CAN!

Voltaire once said: Perfection is the enemy of good.

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Action is a striving as much as it is a letting go. Each painting is a new

adventure, full of potential risk and reward. Though we strive to create the best
work we possibly can, we must allow for the discrepancy that exists between the
insurmountable ideal we have built up in our minds, and the real tangible result of
our best efforts. If we free ourselves from the need to attain the unattainable, we
can instead enjoy the challenge of simply doing our best! Pursue excellence,
not perfection. Excellence is attainable; because it is a path and a process of
your own choosing. Perfection is not, because its an abstraction - an
unattainable outcome. And no one is perfect!
Excellence is an admirable goal; perfection is a potentially destructive one. We
tell you this from really hard won, and painfully earned knowledge. The chase for
something as unreal as perfection for too long, will burn you out. It will rob you of
the joy of creation, and the shear delight in making something with your own
hands. Wisdom, in this case is knowing when to strive for an ideal and when
to release it, in order to embrace what is real.
Confucius said: Better a diamond with a flaw, than a pebble without, and Van
Gogh reminds us The best pictures are always those one dreams of when one
is smoking a pipe in bed, but which never get done. But still one ought to try,
however incompetent one may feel before the unspeakable perfection and
radiant splendor of nature.
Let us seek progress not perfection.
Constantly striving for something beyond our reach is, however, one of the
hallmarks of the pursuit of excellence. Mistakes come with striving... we cannot
be afraid to reach for the heavens. We are not always going to succeed on the
first, fourth or twelfth time we try something. Failure is something we must learn
to deal with. True adventure - high adventure - involves real risk. Failure is what
teaches us what we need to improve on; it will test and mature our resolve.
Our attitudes about overcoming and learning from our failures are vital to
success. We like to say, dont wish the burden was lighter - wish you were
stronger or dont wish for less problems - wish for more skills. In our most
humble opinion, its is grit, endurance, the willingness to work, and a constant
striving to grow, that are more important than raw talent alone. Every time.
Wherever you dream to be, wherever your curiosities are pulling you make a
plan for action. Set goals for what they will make of you to be able to achieve
them. Even if you dont achieve them, think of who you will become by going all
out and striving for them! Remember that action is the proof of faith, the ultimate
testament to our resolve. It is a promise kept.

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Between this moment and your last, what do you want to accomplish? What do
you want to say? What works of art do you want to create, and what kind of
legacy will you leave behind? Between now and death, what will you do!?

The Ability To Share:

When weve done the workwhen weve taken the time and cultivated new ideas
and new habitswhen we know how to absorb more from the day when weve
expanded our capacity to respond to life our ability to ponder and to reflect,
and we have developed the disciplines to act and set our ideas in motion then
it is time to SHARE!
When you share what moved you, what you learned, and what it felt like, you get
to experience it again! And you offer the fruits of that experience to others. We
get to relive with Rembrandt what it felt like to be there, looking into those soulful
self-portraits. It is because he shared that feeling in the painting he shared of
himself.
We get to relive the magnificent movements of Beethovens symphonies,
because he shared the joy, the sadness, the highs, the lows, the beautiful
complexities of life, through the filter of his consciousness: through his profound
understanding.
In the act of creation we re-present, and re-invest all that we have been, all our
feelings and ideas. We gather up our reservoir of knowledge into a gesture of
beauty. This is the moment where we must lose ourselves to find ourselves once
more - to take a leap of faith, trusting that what is in the heart channels through to
the hand shattering the emptiness of the blank canvas, with all the character
and vulnerability of human consciousness.
We can trust that we have dug deep into our souls, and that the fruits of these
efforts will be evidenced without our even contriving them. This is when what we
genuinely are, wells up out of our own life to find natural expression in a work of
art. With an honest hand and an open heart, the visible and the invisible, the
impressions and the expression, the spirit and matter will bind together in an
authentic creation -- an embodiment: a work of art.
It would be good to remember that in any performance, the act of thinking and
doing become one. A painting can be a moment of revelation: The momentous
birth of an idea, a dramatic announcement, a confession, revealing what was

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once hidden, even to ourselves!

It takes courage to share of oneself openly. We are so burdened by the fear of
making mistakes, the fear of singing off key, the anxiety of self-awareness, of
being judged and found wanting. And yet, in spite of our inherent frailties; we
must find the courage to express our deepest yearnings our truest self. For
what is more beautiful than something a little less than perfect? It is our
imperfection that connects us to the humanity in an artist or in a painting. It is
what gives scale to the achievement, to the creative undertaking; it is the thing
we recognize in ourselves, that thing which pricks our feelings.
We now live in an image driven society, fueled by the internet and media. We
are seeing the works of artists from all over the world as quickly as they are being
made, and trends are flourishing in the representational art community through
the proliferation of images on the web, in magazines and in exhibitions. A
disturbing trend emerging, is a certain sameness or homogeny now evident in
the art world and in order to keep on the cutting edge and stand out in the
crowd, there is an immense pressure to have your work look more original and
unique. This prioritizes novelty over authenticity.
We however, feel that novelty is cheap, especially these days. We value
authenticity over originality. There is no one like you. If you are authentic, then
you are expressing a unique nature that will be both original and genuine
because it is YOU. Originality on the other hand, requires mere novelty.
We must endeavor to become songbird souls!! Let us, in our art, and in our lives,
pour out the unique song of our existence, adding our voices to the choir.
In Victor Hugos great novel Les Miserables, there is a scene in which a priest
tends to his garden. In his garden he has 4 plots, he uses 3 of those to grow
vegetables to feed the hungry. In the 4th, he grows flowers. A nun asks the
priest why he does not grow more vegetables instead of flowers. His response to
her, The beautiful is as useful as the useful. perhaps more so.
Beauty is important. Ideas are important. Your creations, no matter how refined
or simple, big or small, are important! They are the manifest assertion of LOVE.
a prayer a way for your soul to pine openly to the heavens, to Nature, and
to consecrate your deepest feelings, longings, and love of life.
A movement of spirit so strong, so overflowing, that it must take form, come into
being, and become a flower in the garden of the world.
Now give it away. Pour it out!!!! Be generous of yourself in your work and send it
out into the world. Share all that you are, all that you have learned and have

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taken in: share your love, your experiences, your regrets, your passion, your
interest, your memories, your thoughts, your feelings, share how it looked, how it
felt, what it meant to you. Re-live it for us in the work, so that me might know,
and might share in it too, or re-experience for ourselves a moment of awe and
revelation.

Conclusion:
So contemplate, and share the fruits of your contemplationsbridge the gap
between your private and public experiences, between the thought and the deed,
the subject and the object, the eternal and the incidental.
Man is lonely and longs to see something of himself or evidence of his own
consciousness in the world. Art is one of the many things we do that reflects us
back to ourselves. It elicits and inspires true empathy. To touch the conscience
of another human being, is to break the cold indifference of universe.
It is the human touch, with all of its quivering vulnerabilities that moves us the
most the hand made thing, with the fewest barriers to what is real. It is the
creative soul, exposed and standing before the universe. Your flaws and
limitationsyour vulnerabilities are our access point: the place where we find
you, relate to you, and where you break down our walls. It is the way in which we
can measure the fullness of an accomplishment. It is the shaky aging hand of
Rembrandt, or the wrinkles in the face of mother Teresa, or the wavering voice of
Leonard Cohen. It is the mark that life has left on your soul. It is giving life the
full measure of your commitment to what treasures it has in store - come hell or
high water. It is LOVE. Let life touch you, let it move you, let it terrify you and
inspire you, and create awe in youlet it in for it is boundless, boundless
terrifying love.

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