Putting It Together: Part I

Throughout this week I wondered what I’d write about. I thought I might explore music a bit more; defining more of the music that makes up the soundtrack of my life. Then I thought perhaps I’d write about my passion for Disney; the films, the parks, the music, etc. But, I decided against those for today. I’ll get to them, but not just now. Instead, let’s look at something less interesting but necessary.

____________________

“White. A blank page or canvas.

The challenge:  bring order to the whole.”

                                        ~ George Seurat

                                        from Sunday in the Park with George

“Let’s start at the very beginning

A very good place to start.

When you read you begin with A-B-C,

When you sing you begin with do-re-mi.”

                                        ~ Maria

                                        from The Sound of Music

“It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.”

                                        ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

                                        from The Fellowship of the Ring

All quotes about beginning something.

In June, in an article titled, Considering Art, I wrote, “next weekend I begin to clean and organize the garage.” My, but it took a long while for that “next weekend” to arrive. Unusually high temperatures and an extremely busy work schedule prevented that beginning from, well, beginning.

Now, I can say, it has started.

Yesterday my wife and I spent a part of our morning (the part that isn’t over 90 degrees) working in the garage. We sorted through some things and loaded up the bed of truck with a sizable donation to Goodwill. Not being a fan of waiting for the next community yard sale and realizing that I made less money than I thought I would, this donation will be the first of many. 

It is difficult to find the profound thought or that slice of sentimentality in cleaning a garage. I am not really trying to. But there is a sense of accomplishment that comes from it. Our sorting through things is a step in simplifying our lives. It is small first step towards a bigger goal. We spent time looking at things and understanding that we have moved beyond it. There were several things that once held value but somehow lost some of the value over time. Not they are not important to our memory, but not so important that we need to hold onto it. I know a time will come when we’ll ask, “didn’t we used to have such and such?” We’ll look at each other, wondering if it is stuck in some box. We may even go rummage through a few a boxes only to discover that it is gone. Then we’ll move on.

Sorting through things also moves me closer to a goal. We have decided that over time we will replace a lot of the art that is in our home with things that we create. Having the garage sorted and organized draws us nearer to that goal. There is too much that I wish to do and having so much space that was unusable kept some things from beginning.

A few more evenings or Saturday mornings loading up the truck and the space can be used as a studio. There I can dust off the tools. There I can paint. There I can either begin projects that I have only thought of and complete things that were started some years ago. There I can experiment - perhaps start playing in mixed media artforms. There I can have fun. Then, if I am lucky, out there I may happen upon something that we’d like to have displayed inside the house. 

So, the space is not yet the blank canvas that Monsieur Seurat spoke of. Perhaps it never will be. But it is the beginning a space where I hope imagination can take wing and a desire to create something may be fulfilled. 

~ Greg