Lovely are the days when the sky is like canvas: It can be milky white, soft grey, or baby blue, as any base colour will do. It’s the expectancy that’s magical. You might be thinking specifics (ex. visual art) but I am going to explore all of life as a canvas, where the individual can make a uniquely authoritative impression.
We have the ultimate authority to decide once the accident of our birth has passed. Some have advantage. Some are squelched. Some are burdened by culture. Some must push against obstacles while others leap over them. The world is not fair and restrictions exist, but our personal authority is what matters. This is freedom: we get to decide. I wish that all humanity had the same opportunities to decide that I have felt through my existence. Freedom means choice, and I have had a lot of free choice when it has come to painting my canvas.
While you are canvassing your thoughts about this idea of personal authority, consider how we do that during an election. I’ve volunteered to canvas my neighbourhood for various political parties. Anyone who has done this knows it can be risky. You are making yourself vulnerable to another person’s opinion. We may not all reside under the same canvas tent. Some of my favourite interactions have been when I’ve been allowed as a canvasser to respectfully present my view while the canvas-ee shows how they’ve painted their life in a pleasing way. We can agree to disagree because I believe Politics is like Art: It’s subjective.
My dad was a visual artist. He would get excited over a fresh square of canvas. The placement of the equipment was deliberate. He needed time to see his work before he had even begun to outline it. Inspiration and planning; all rolled into a single musical thought. I would watch him humming as he made his first brushstroke, much like a sailor might raise his canvas sail hoping that the wind would blow, just right, to send his craft onward. A baby must feel this same sensation on rising onto two legs for the first time. With new height comes an expanded view, with unknown possibilities. “Wait!” thinks the tot, “I’d better sit down for a minute to process.” Parents, anxiously watching, may have their own designs on this blank canvas they’ve recently birthed, but their authority won’t last long.
Ultimately the decisions will be ours to make. Some of our choices will depend on current fashion. What we display on our conscious canvas may be at odds with current trends or we may wish to seek a common thread. Likely, who we are will be a work-in-progress. Some may have their canvas damaged like a storm distorts the peaceful blue of the sky. But most things can be mended with time. We may choose to cover-over what came before, so we can make a space for what is yet-to-be. Or we can quilt the fragments of our past to blend with what is now. It’s up to us.
Catch My Drift? 