Life Is Art, Not A Report Card

Liz and I are reading one chapter of before bedtime and then going over the main points of the chapter together.

It goes along well with our “No electronics after 9pm” rule.

Anyway… the first chapter is “Stop Hoping For Completion of Anything in Life.”

This is the opening to that chapter:
Most men make the error of thinking that one day it will be done. They think, “If I can work enough, then one day I could rest.” Or, “One day my woman will understand something and then she will stop complaining.” Or, “I’m only doing this now so that one day I can do what I really want with my life” The masculine error is to think that eventually things will be different in some fundamental way. They won’t. It never ends. As long as life continues, the creative challenge is to tussle, play, and make love with the present moment while giving your unique gift.

As I read that last night (for at least the 20th time) I felt a feeling of, “Oh shit, he’s right.”

It’s sort of a sad feeling, knowing that it will never be enough.

It NEVER ends!

Meaning I can make a bunch of money for the next couple of years, but then I’d be bored after a couple of months of travel, fine dining, and indulging in my desires. I would feel like I still have gifts that are left to share.

So this very first principle is one of the most irritating, yet freeing, concepts for me.

I’ll have to keep showing up every day. Every fucking day! Arrrgh.

But then, I know that whatever I do is perfect.

My goal isn’t to make a ton of money, or travel the world, or write a New York Times bestseller.

My ultimate goal is to live the most artfully lived life in the history of mankind.

I want to make art out of everything I do, everything I touch, everything I put my awareness to.

I’m done with measuring the quality of life by external factors.

Money, the attractiveness of my girlfriend, my abs, my car, my clothes, my Facebook followers.

That’s a quick and easy path to a lifetime of not feeling enough.

I am enough because I exist.

And everywhere I go I leave my mark on the world because the world is my canvas, my playground, my cosmic playpen.

Life is Art.

Not a report card.

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