Sunday, November 17, 2013

What are you?

I was in the bookstore (rare, but they still exist) this morning and I overheard the clerk ask a customer, "are you an artist?" I wondered how I would answer that question if it was posed to me.

On one hand, I ceilinged out in the visual arts at either finger painting or perhaps paint by numbers. But considering yourself an artist goes beyond an ability to color inside the lines. I think this question is a flavor of not what you do but what you are. It is an interesting question to ask of yourself. If I don't consider myself an artist, what would I then consider myself as? My first thought is that it shouldn't be that hard to answer but it is. I haven't gotten to a conclusion yet.

But back to the customer and the clerk's question. The customer answered the question, "of course." I think that is perfectly artistic.

2 comments:

Kate Geisen said...

As much as I love my family and my job, I feel like the "weekend me" is a much truer reflection of who I am (or, maybe more to the point, who I want to be) than what my job or family titles say.

Ransick said...

Interesting. I deleted about a thousand pictures of my phone today and have to say those pictures are a good indication of who I am.