Your Great Work
The dark is pierced
Sol shines, brilliant and pure
Clouds are fleeting
Sol, 2021 - Water colour on 300g cold-pressed cotman.
A letter to yourself written in December 2021 as a reminder once Spring came.
A Reminder
Your entire life up until this point has been a preparation for succeeding here and now. The pain and the pleasure; the loss and the gain; the sorrow and the joy; the anger and the exhilaration. All of it was in the past. Lessons and memories that are a part of you, now, woven into the tapestry of your potential for this moment and the next.
Your time is always now. Every waking moment is your gift to do something great, to move forward, to realize your dreams, and maximize your short glimpse of this wonderful and awesome experience called life. Live a life you will love!
Fulfill your dreams and desires through joyful but hard work and dedication. Help others to do the same. Become a champion for rising above mediocrity, weakness, rot, bitterness, hate, and cynicism that tempts you on every step of the journey. Lay out your lofty goals and lead by example. Execute your plan with vigor, confidence, discipline, and courage.
Abide by the core virtues, properties, and princeps that hold you to the highest standard of noble action and presence. Push yourself to the highest heights of human capacity and keep on pushing. Those who "live" eternally through human history do so by leaving a significant mark in the annals of time, for better or worse. Do and be better. Strive for perfection and excellence in all that you do knowing that these are unattainable heights but that by continuously moving towards them you will be greater than you once were.
To stream Sun ward is but a metaphor for striving toward the greatest visible force known for most of human history. You can conceptualize far beyond that and therefore Truth is all of that and so much more. Do not allow others or yourself to misconstrue your intent or where you place your faith or glory.
Here. Now. You have everything before you necessary to succeed. Stay humble and kind. Know in your heart that accolades, wisdom, and success are elements of your existence but not the keys to your salvation. All the goodness, effort, discipline, and sacrifice for the success you seek is only an exercise in being the best possible person you can be and raising others up with you. In the grand and eternal scale, to actualize your potential Self you must give yourself over to that which is eternal and unchanging, to that which Is.
Share you knowledge and experience with others in a way that allows you to further your own knowledge and experience. Your Great Work is the Work itself. Strive daily and with every breath to be the best version of yourself and to bring the best life to your loved ones. Through your actions, expressions, ideas, and creative endeavors you push yourself to do better while also inspiring others. Your canvas is the entirety of what you do. Each sheet, each word, each letter, the ink, pigment, wood, fibre, muscle, the visible outward expression of style and emotion, the empathy, the toil, the striving, the overcoming, the love, the faith, the life, and the death, is all part of a grand master piece. Your Great Work is your very existence, participation, and attention right now. Doing the very best you can with who and what you have and loving every moment of the journey for the very experience of it is why you are here. Your life is defined by your actions, your attitude, and what you choose to do with every waking moment. Embrace this knowledge by giving it more care and attention, by loving and cherishing every second. By making the most of your days and ensuring that you are creative, learning, expressing, sharing, loving, caring, growing, and succeeding.
You become your Great Work by thinking of yourself as being on the journey towards your higher future Self. By holding yourself to a high standard as defined by virtues, properties, and faith. By honestly expressing yourself each day while on a trajectory towards a better future being. Leave a trail of expressions along the crooked road up the mountain. The journey is long and arduous. Your steps along the way will be far from perfect but that is what makes the Great Work so beautiful. Each and every step along the way is a pattern line, brushstroke, word, or thought that combines into the unique and beautiful masterpiece of your life. But only if you choose to keep walking that crooked road. Walk it. Persist until you succeed. This is your Great Work.