Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Pablo Picasso image Wikipedia
I never really got contentment. “Are you happy?” I once asked a friend. “No, but I am content,” was his reply. To me, it wasn’t enough. It seemed like accepting some kind of mediocrity. I was young then and life was lived in all the vivid hues of passion. Emotion ran sky high or hit the depths… the times in between were bland, a mere waiting for the next rise and fall of the rollercoaster.
Emotions, back then, were all sharp-edged, like a cubist painting… and like such works, always disassembling the object of them to examine them from every angle. Some of the edges were so sharp you would bleed if you touched them… but you were alive. There were no in-between days of grey and dun.
Alizarine: Etienne Sandorfi, image: Maklary
A little older and the days took on a greater realism. The consequences of action and reaction were more direct as the responsibilities of adulthood were revealed in stark detail. Like looking in the mirror, these days reflected back at you only what you projected into them. The colours were still sharp; the detail and emotion clear… all the edges well-defined. A delineated life, with specific duties… niches for the fragmented self that is required by the roles demanded by the varied aspects of a society that likes to label everything.
But even that changed, morphing into abstraction where the lines and stark hues threw everything into question and the secure assumptions of youth that had flown direct as arrows suddenly seemed to realise that infinity is not a straight line. Stubbornly held beliefs were taken out of the strongbox and held up to the Light. Some were found to be tarnished, others broken, some simply too outmoded to be of any pertinent use. Yet there is a freedom in that de-cluttering of heart and mind, a simplicity that leaves much open to interpretation and, like a gallery, the fewer you hold on to, the more you can begin to appreciate what remains in all its glory.
The Depth of Woman by Benjamin Prewitt
These days I have a preference for a more Impressionistic style. I like my edges softer, the detail less focussed. I like to be able to stand back and lose myself in the moment in order to see a bigger picture, full of suggestions and possibilities half-glimpsed; open to the imagination and the emotional whispering of the heart-centred soul. There is something about this time that both softens and excites. I find that I like the lack of definition, the gaps only my heart and mind can fill. Instead of wondering about the name of the artist, I ask instead what message they were trying to convey.
And finally, I know contentment. It is not that there is nothing I could wish had been different. Nor is it that there is no looking back in the knowledge that I could have done things differently… for better or worse… Yet there is an acceptance that everything has its purpose. Like the myriad dots of a pointillist painting, each speck of experience may seem out of place when looked at too closely in time and emotion, yet stand back and the colours of the days blend and merge into something beautiful, understandable and whole, where every scrap of colour is in the perfect place.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat. Image Wikipedia
There is a new beauty… and it is far from the mediocrity of my youthful disdain. The colours of this new world are deep and rich, their contrasts sing against each other, dark illuminating light. I can see that both are needful and their harmony beautiful. The detail fades in importance; the whole is where the story lies, waiting for our eyes to read it on a wider canvas than the frantic myopia of youth can encompass. The frame of my days holds a beauty only the heart can see and its starry skies are streaked by the fingertips of the creator.
The Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh. Imgae: Wikipedia
philosophy, Sue, you are a rock of sense, as the wisest might say, always leave room for those coming after you, happy days, your post has found a new dimension too, like the world itself, amen
Thank you 🙂
Love the paintings you chose to illustrate the thoughts – perfect.
Thanks, Trent… they felt right 🙂
So do I. Some of my favourites are here.
Happiness and contentment. I’ve always thought neither is enough on its own unless one leads to the other.
I think they do, if we let them… but that depends on how we define them.
Like your description of your journey and the paintings flesh out the words. I do think we all take pretty much the same journey, but it’s like a circle that different personalities enter at different places.
The journey has similarities and common elements… but we step on the merry-go-round at, as you say, different points. How we hand the journey from there , thoug, is an individual choice.
Sadly, yes. Some personalities embrace change and growth and others fear it and resist.
I often wish I could see the world, my world, the way you do, Sue…
We have out unique perspectives for a reason, Jaye… and often it is the armour we have collected over the years that is there to protect us.
I have never thought about it like that before, thank you, Sue…
There is something rather beautiful in your words. A simple beauty that cannot be improved on by mere mortals such as I.
Thank you, Danny.
A most thought-provoking post, Sue.
Your selection of paintings is lovely.
Thanks Jean.
🌻
Fantastic choices of illustrations Sue. The ‘Sunday Afternoon’ is perfect, even to the dogs. Have a good day.
You too, Di
🙂
I knew contentment when I settled into my last home – it was lovely, the garden was there for me to draw my pictures in veggies and flowers, I had all the birds I needed to keep me happy.
Things change, sometimes.
But at present I am only discontented with my failure to keep myself in some sort of healthy regime. Maybe I’m easily contented.
I’m glad you’ve found that place Sue. Keep safe <3
Contentment is hard to come by when you are constantly under stress… which we all are at the moment with covid and all the stuff that comes in its wake.
A lovely post, Sue. You express things so well and beautifully. I wish I had the same way with words as you do.
I just waffle in the same way I would if we were sitting down sharing a cuppa 🙂
A beautiful post, Sue. So much contentment with the journey, and the larger frame of life. Thanks for the smile.
Thanks, Diana. We have t find those definitions for ourselves and let them evolve and grow 🙂
Lovely, Sue. I think during the past year, we were lucky if we were content. Now we have to seek the happiness.
I can relate to that, Noelle.
Sue, well done. You have beautifully described a life of growing and evolving. This particular passage resonated more than others:
“I like my edges softer, the detail less focused. I like to be able to stand back and lose myself in the moment in order to see a bigger picture, full of suggestions and possibilities half-glimpsed; open to the imagination and the emotional whispering of the heart-centered soul.”
The first sentence reeled me in. Lovely. Keith
Thank you, Keith.
I liked your analogy of our lives as pointillist paintings. So true and a good way to look back to see that everything fits together in a meaningful way. Thanks for another thought-provoking post, Sue!
Thanks, Eliza. I was never overly keen on the pointillist perspective… but when looked at in this way, it does have value.
A wonderful post Sue.💜
Thank you, Willow.
Beautifully poetic and written with the true spirit of an artist! Loved the analogies to artistic styles and works art, brilliant writing Sue!
It was an absolute delight reading it .👍