Make Good Art

Make Good Art

Based on a commencement

address by Neil Gaiman

We are born.

     We grow.

          We learn.

     We grow some more.

          We learn some more.

Sooner or later we develop abilities. 

          Good abilities

                    Worthwhile skills

Let’s call that “making art”. 

So, we make good art.

Life happens.

Things come along, some good and some not so good.

After we have a time of processing, grieving or whatever is appropriate when life happens, we ultimately have to get back to making art.  So, in that spirit, read on.

-When the cat explodes, 

     make good art.

-When your spouse loves another,  

     make good art.

-When someone cuts you off on the freeway, 

     make good art.

-When the door is slammed in your face, 

     make good art.

-When the tomatoes are rotten, 

     make good art.

-If the big commission doesn’t happen, 

     make good art.

-If the mortgage is foreclosed on, 

     make good art.

-When the lottery ticket wins, 

     make good art.

-When the doctor says “No cancer”, 

     make good art.

-When you buy a new house, 

     make good art.

-When you get married, 

     make good art.

-When the grandkids come, 

     make good art.

In season, out of season,

    rainy days, sunny days,

        happy days, sad days,

            creative days, dry days,

                birth days, death days,

                    make good art.

Make                         Good              Art!

Sometimes life is hard.

Sometimes life is good.

Make              Good              Art!

Are you knee-deep in alligators?

                          Make            Good              Art!

Do you love your wife? 

                          Make            Good              Art!

Need a new car? 

                         Make             Good              Art!

Always and forever – Make Good Art!

Do what only you can do best.  Make Good Art!

You see, we do what each of us can do to the best of our abilities.  We make good art.

I love what Neil Gaiman said in his speech – “Most of us find our voices only after we have sounded like a lot of other people.”  That is okay.  That is how we learn to make good art.

It‘s all about being uniquely you.  You have what no one else has – You have “you”.

So we go about our lives. 

We write

  we play

    we dance

      we sing

        we create,

      we build and design,

    we talk and work

  and love and do life

like no one else,

because we are us – you and me.

Do you ever feel like you’re walking down the street naked, exposed to the world?  Do you feel like you are showing too much of you?  That may just be the moment when you are beginning to get it right.

That could be your coming out moment, the moment when you start to make good art.

Find your voice.

Make

               Good

                              Art!

P Michael Biggs

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