everyday life

I recently came across this Albert Einstein quote in a blog I follow, that made me think about how we approach our everyday life.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

It got me thinking. How do you look at life? Earlier in the week I wrote about whether we approach life with half-full or half-empty thinking. In many ways Einstein’s quote and half-full/half-empty thinking are one and the same. Looking at life as though everything is a miracle = half-full thinking, nothing is a miracle = half-empty thinking.

Miracles are an interesting thing. People look at them differently. Some think that everything that happens is a miracle. While that might be a bit of a stretch, why not think of everything in the lens of goodness? Wikipedia says:

“A miracle is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws. Such an event may be attributed to a supernatural being (God or gods), a miracle worker, a saint or a religious leader.”

Regardless of the true definition, if I had to look at my life and future thinking that nothing is a miracle, it would be like believing that no good is possible, no one can change, nothing can get better. Call me a glass half-fuller, rose-colored glasses wearer, or whatever you like. I am fine with the view seen from my eyes.

Sometimes you see something in life that just inspires and makes you think “I want to be able to do that.” I grew up in a small Midwest town, and well let’s just say nothing much happened in my small town. Sure there was crime and the usual everyday life, but for the most part it was just boring. I went off to a boarding high school, then to college, then to Boston. Somewhere along the way I grew interested in graffiti. I definitely did not find that interest from my small town. If there was tagging of any kind, it was with a non-artistic kid that went rogue with a spray can either because they were bored or because maybe someone had pissed them off and they decided to get back with a paint can.

I find it interesting that graffiti originates back to Ancient times, and today it can have a positive or negative connotation. In some neighborhoods, graffiti is welcomed as it means kids are off the streets and putting their energies into an art form. In other areas, it is looked at as controversial because of what the art might depict to other community members. Either way, I always gravitate towards graffiti that is done well, even if sometimes I find I do not understand what I am looking at – isn’t that the case with many types of art? You see what you see, or you see what you want to see.

Take a moment to watch this five-minute video of a graffiti installation (or part of it). The amount of time that must have taken, and the creativity and talent of these Australian graffiti artists.