How's Your Commitment to Your Talent, Your Gift?

I got back from Italy one month ago and I’ve been thinking about the real difference between the two countries. In Italy, everywhere you look you see beauty, art, sculptures, architecture, and of course, the scenery. The beauty of art is so pervasive that it is simply woven into the fabric of being there. Living there, it is a part of your consciousness even before you are aware you have a consciousness. So my perception was that art is woven into the fabric of being/living as an Italian.

Here in America, it is more that commerce is woven into the fabric of our being. Everything is about commerce and everything is judged by how it performs in the arena of commerce. I’m not judging anything here, just observing. I know that in Italy, art had a more powerful impact on me than it has in the past. When I saw Michaelangelo’s David in Florence, I actually began weeping and I’m not a weepy guy. But seeing what a magnificent work of art it is, I was struck not only by Michaelangelo’s incredible gift, but his equally profound commitment to that gift. The talents that we are given are truly gifts from the Creator and our commitment to the development of that gift is our way of demonstrating the responsibility that comes with the gift and our respect and gratitude for having such gifts. I’m not saying we are all Michaelangelo’s. I am only saying that whatever our gift is, it deserves the kind of commitment that he demonstrated with works such as the David. Whatever you do, you owe it to your self and to everyone who might come in contact with it to give it your best.

That being said, I’m going to show you some amazing photographs of an artist in Belgium that has raised sidewalk chalk art to an incredible level. You can see his commitment to his gift. How’s yours? For me, I’m gonna go practice some more.