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What if Your LIFE is the Masterpiece?

Artists hand smeared with paint


Ever heard of The Hero's Journey? Every masterpiece of storytelling follows this arc. (You know them: Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Moana, Men In Black, even Kung Fu Panda!)


Artists follow this story arc with every painting - you don't see the whole arc in a piece, but believe me, all the beats are there:


  • Hero gets the call to adventure (I have the coolest ever idea for a painting!)


  • Hero takes up the call, encounters challenges and temptations (Starts painting, discovers the idea is not cool, in fact it SUCKS an it's harder to execute than expected. Seriously considers burning it so no one ever knows they've failed)


  • Hero finds teacher/helper/mentor (A gifted teacher appears - in human form, or maybe in book or video form - but someone out there who has tried to do something that turned out to suck, encourages and inspires us to KEEP GOING)


  • Hero descends into the abyss ("This painting is garbage. I'm a fraud. What made me think I could do this? It will never work. ARGH!!!)


  • Hero experiences transformation (Makes a bold move, risks total calamity, but has nothing - and I mean NOTHING left to lose - and resolves the work!)


  • Hero returns, triumphant. (Painting in hand, "completely astonished that "it doesn't suck")


No matter the hero, no matter the journey one thing never changes:


It gets really HARD before the triumph part!


Precious one, THAT is life. The potholes, the setbacks, the rock bottoms that have basements - we have to go THROUGH them to return triumphant.


But, what if the JOURNEY, not the triumph was the whole POINT?


In between those potholes and assorted calamities are moments of awe, vistas so beautiful they take your breath away, connection with other heroes that sustain, encourage, inspire and motivate us.


Making your life the masterpiece


Masterpieces require contrast: light and shade, highlights and lowlights, all composed in such a way as to enhance ALL the elements. Without the dark areas, the painting or story has no depth, no nuance. Your life is no different.


A life lived fully, embracing ALL the contrasts - the celebrations AND calamities, the mundane alongside the scintillating, the dull, repetitive aspects of being human juxtaposed against the 'once in a lifetime' moments might just be the greatest masterpiece of all.


Imagine your life as an epic painting. The kind that stops you in your tracks and sends a tingle up your spine. Can you see how the dark and heavy areas only serve to make the lovely parts more beautiful?


Maybe the painting of your life isn't giving you tingle up the spine vibes. What needs to be added? Or (maybe more importantly) what needs to be taken out?


What might happen if you asked yourself



"How can I make my journey through life a masterpiece - a living, breathing glorious work of art?"


Need some support to imagine what YOUR masterpiece could look like?





 
 
 

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