When Grandma Moses said “life is what we make it,” this referred to making the best of what life brings. But my own life has taught me, again and again, the more literal meanings of this phrase.
Certainly attitude affects our experience. A close friend once told me that she admired my fortitude. She said I’d been through so much in my life and yet I managed to remain positive. These words shocked me. Had I been through an unusual amount of adversity? I had to think about this for a while. I then realized that many people wouldn’t want my life, with all the shifting around I’ve been compelled to do. My family and I have lived in many regions of the United States. We've learned about small towns, the city, and about dirt poverty versus the daily lives of the ultra rich. We’ve had some outrageous times. I’m thankful for it all. I’m an adventurer. I love my life.
Yes, attitude shapes our reality, but so does perception. Here is one of many of Monet’s paintings of the pond in his garden. If you squint it looks like a photograph. If you don’t squint you can see how each brush stroke represents a play of light. The painting demonstrates a human interpretation of nature’s beauty. Writings of fiction also describe life as perceived by humans. I love to read the many ways authors have created something special with what we were given. This is why I especially love literary fantasy. Creativity, to my mind, is what gives humanity value. When I see on Facebook that someone has dressed up a cat in a pirate costume, and the effect is striking, I think “Yes! This is why humans exist! To do things like this!”
It’s important to remember, too, that we each think differently. Not only do we come from different backgrounds, our physiological makeup determines how we experience life. Some people see smells. Many people think their thoughts without seeing any sort of image in their mind. Others have memories in technicolor video and surround sound. In addition, memories are selective and often mistaken. No wonder we have different perspectives! It’s amazing that we can understand each other at all, really. Yet we do deeply relate to one another. We recognize ourselves in each other. And it’s just that humanity that we see within others that we share as art.
Life is what you make it, and to me life is art.
