Artwork & Content Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
Cartoon Pen & Watercolour 8″ x 12″
It takes a person with a big open heart to live a carefree life these days. These are troubled times. No-one is sure of anything. We look at our lives and all that has changed… and wonder when it will stop… and if we will ever be the same again. When the answer comes back with a resounding “no”… our confidence in everything we knew to be true up to this point is shattered.
For so many people around the world who are losing their jobs and their homes… their businesses and sometimes the relationships which underpinned them all… life will be undeniably different in the future. But different doesn’t have to be a bad thing does it? Sure… different will be strange at first… it always is. But whatever the change… we know from past experience that we will soon grow used to it. It’s all relative. Because something is different does not (automatically) signal the end of the world.
Besides… on the up side… “different” can open up a whole new world of possibilities. Sure… it’s hard to be out of the comfort zone… but funnily enough that’s where some of the best stuff in life gets done.
Moving on with it requires a large degree of faith… (and I don’t mean the religious kind either – although that can help if you’re so inclined – a bit of fervent prayer never hurt anyone – grin)
It’s faith… that quiet inner knowing… that allows us to step away from what we knew and take the necessary risk to move ahead in our lives… not knowing what shape or form that life may ultimately take. It is the essential element in “loving life” despite the setbacks.
In life…
Change is the one sure thing
Loss is all pervasive
and Faith is the only antidote.
It’s a beautiful thing… there should be more of it!
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Jean..how true! To be able to swallow that lump that sits in ones throat, to be able to take a deep breath and smile because you have the sun on your face, to be able to let go off that anxious knot that unravels in your head over and over. Have we ever known our future??? We have always had to have faith. We have always had to have our dreams and then pursue them. There has always been stress at the back of any situation..we have just forgotten that. I know that I have never been sure of what I can achieve. Granted my change did not come through financial loss as such and I am not at risk of losing anything (other than my spirit of freedom!!)that was supposed to be “set in stone”. It is because of hard times, that we discover what we can achieve, what we can and will do. I shall stick my neck right out here and actually say that the financial crisis within the world is a good thing!! It is forcing us to really consider what we need versus what we want. It is slowing us down and making us appreciate so many things we had shoved into the background. Having greener grass, better holidays and faster cars will have to be replaced by more quality family time,more emphasis on looking after ourselves and family and bringing together the team work (instead of the “me, me ,me” mentality) that really gives us hope. We are not alone and the world needs us to work together. The threat of natural disasters has always been there – we were just moving too fast to pay that much attention to it. I really do feel for the people who are losing homes, incomes and “hope”… I am not a mainstream spiritual person – but I am spiritual in the belief that I will do my best. I am spiritual in knowing that. Necessity is the mother of invention. From diversity comes awareness and courage. Faith is an almost secret thing, it only comes when you really need it.
Thanks for commenting Jools
All valid (and valued) viewpoints.
Re the financial crisis… it’s interesting to hear the very same take coming from the younger generation as well. I had an interesting discussion last night with my daughter and one of her friends and (surprisingly) their take on it was similar. They were laughing about the early cell phones and how they were almost the size of a shoebox in comparison to today’s models. We were all having a laugh about it… and how technological change has come very quickly (even in their opinion). Like you… they welcomed the slowdown (albeit ever so cautiously).
It won’t hurt for people to reconnect with what’s really real… it’s time I guess. But for some those changes are going to be pretty scary… hence my preoccupation with this topic. What people are going through needs to be discussed openly in a positive way. If we can throw a bit of lighthearted humour into the mix… all the better! LOL
True enough Jean. To look on the bright side here is like a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. Perhaps you are the modern day “Mary Poppins!” I do believe that my eldest daughter is realising that not everything comes to you on a silver platter (which makes me breathe a sigh of relief!) and that you do in fact have to work towards dreams and goals, that sometimes you have to deviate from the original plan to get to your main objective. My physio guy said to me yesterday, “Isn’t it better to have some pain and get out here and have some fun rather than moping around feeling sorry for yourself”…I think that you can apply that theory to many aspects of life.
LOL… I’d better go check on my umbrella then! Last time I put it up I had to stand in the rain while I reattached the material to the frame – laboriously re-threading it back on to each spoke- before I could get myself out of the rain! Mary Poppins (I’m sure) would have been better organised! LOL
Laughter does help… though it’s not always easy. But nothing worth it’s salt ever is. Your physio guy seems to understand that… and I’m so pleased he’s spreading the word. What a great attitude for someone who works in an industry that sees so much pain. It helps when they understand the pain on the inside as well!
Faith IS a wonderful thing. Whether or not it’s religious…everyone has to have it or we simply wouldn’t be able to survive. I think it’s interesting to witness how our communities are adapting to all this change in our world. It seems that people have, as Jools mentioned, become more interactive and communicative. We have become more creative in our pursuits and endeavors. We have even, due to economic hardships, learned to move in with one another and cope with opposing lifestyles. It takes faith, doesn’t it? To be so maleable and change…?
Great thoughts to stew over before hitting the sack Jean! Thanks and good night!
You’re welcome Mary… always great to hear from you!
Attitude is what it is all about. We can either crumble and fall apart..or find another way! You know which one I am cheering for!!!!!
Amen to all the above. We must have faith, yes indeed, but also, I think, a vision for the world we want it to be and the courage to live our lives the way we believe is right.
Too right John
I know I’ve been flogging this topic a bit lately! LOL It’s just kind of relevant at the moment I guess.
Thanks for stopping by… it’s always good to see you.
Didn’t anyone like the cartoon? (okay… shamelessly fishing here!) grin & (((chuckles)))
I believe my political cartoons are coming up in Heat 4 and Heat 5 (this week and the one after) in the New Matilda Competition on http://www.newmatilda.com. So watch out for them… and if you feel like it… register on the website to vote (for me… of course!) *wink*
I like all your cartoons, Jean. And fingers crossed for the competition!
LOL Thanks John! Very much appreciated!
I do hope you do well Jean!!!
John..there lies a question worth pondering, what do we “believe is right???” I mean, do people still expect to have what they want when they want it? Do they still expect to have the surplus they have had and the “dispoasable income”. What are peoples expectations? In that lies the question of religion as well..so many different cultures with different aspirations and beliefs as to what is right and what is wrong. Personally I believe that we should work together as a team and not expect to have such a “full” life. That we should expect to work bloody hard to get our “just rewards” and that those rewards will be enough. Success is survival..is it not???
Thanks Jools… just getting into the heats will be reward enough for me… anything more will be the icing on the cake! Yay!
Gee… you know… I think I DO want it all! (((chuckles))) I do want a full life! I don’t mind hard work… and I like getting paid for it *wink* Civilisation as we know it has been built upon the back of industrious enterprise… some of it individual… and some of it a team effort. And I guess without just reward for the industrious few… society would soon revert to an uncivilised rabble. What we probably need to guard against though… (as we are slowly and painfully learning through the recent economic crisis)… is that there is no place for greed and self interest in the global marketplace. And that industrious people should expect to be paid commensurate to the effort expended… no more and no less. Those who want to put in the effort on their own behalf and also those who are creating jobs and opportunities for others should be justly rewarded. Those who don’t should expect survival but nothing more. Harsh I know. But I believe it to be the only fair and equitable way. Just me.
We have been hoodwinked by the “powers that be” How do we put a price on the income of those who rule us? I have always worked damn hard at what ever I was asked to do, I worked for I wanted to do too. Do we judge our “payment” by popularity or by religion? Do we consider that what we do is far more important than anyone else and thereby we “should” have a larger income, when that income comes from the backs of others or the theft from another? I think not. I would glady agree to huge incomes to people who actually really worked. If their genious was unfathomable and they still regarded those who worked for them.
You’re talking about corporate CEOs Jools? I couldn’t agree more. And I believe that what has happened in the past won’t be allowed to happen again. The jig is up for public company’s to become truly accountable.
Interestingly enough I went to a seminar over the weekend where the topic of being paid what we are worth was discussed. In the arts (as you know) it’s sometimes difficult to achieve parity between work and appropriate reward for our services… but I do think it can be done. We do have to adjust our thinking though to believe that what we do is worth every cent. I guess the marketplace has always worked on the basis of supply and demand. We need to do what we can to make sure we are in the latter! LOL
Oh yeah!!! Now that in itself is worth payment Jean!! More than half of the battle with artists, is to become “known”, the painting part is relatively easy in comparison. With so many of us out there battling for the same outcome, it is difficult. But looking at what does make it and what does not…the secret (I think!) is to be different (hard when much of what we do and paint about is a popular topic!). However the same applies, where we believe in what we are doing and we don’t give up.
Coprorate CEOs make my head spin and my blood boil! There are also the prima donnas within the “entertainment” industry too Jean. I mean…just have a look at what they are worth!!! What do they intend on doing with all that money – get buried with it?????? How can they accumulate so much of the stuff and not give at least some of it back?
That doesn’t bother me so much… I guess it’s their money and they can decide what they want to do with it. The entertainment industry looks easy from the outside looking in but I take my hat off to anyone who has cracked that nut and made it to fame (however they did it) LOL
We do tend to look at their lives and think it must be easy for them… but I think not. It’s heartening to see how down to earth and altruistic some people can be. I saw Dolly Parton interviewed on Parkinson the other night and she’s been chipping away for over 40 years doing what she does. We might not expect it… but she is as down to earth as they come… and contributes back in a variety of ways to the society which helped set her up. Then there’s people like Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet multi billionaires whose aim it is to die with nothing. I think they’re out there… the people who give a damn and are willing to put their money where their mouth is.
Re the arts. I think you are spot on about finding our individual point of difference. There is so much art out there saying the same old thing. I don’t think it matters that the subject matter is the same… just as long as the viewpoint we bring to that subject matter is fresh and unique. Authenticity is difficult to find… but definitely worth the search! (come to think of it this would make a good blog topic don’t you think? Hmmmm…. thinking thinking thinking LOL)
Oh I agree about some people giving back to “the world”..they are marvellous and show great empathy (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie for starters). What brought that burst of scoffing was the reports on Mel Gibsons divorce (Paul McCartneys as well!) and how much they have just sitting there accumulating more and more. Its not how they earned that money, it is how they can still have so much of it, while others have not. Alot of fortune comes from just being in the right place at the right time, knowing the ‘right’ people as well. What they do with their money is up to them, thats for sure! My point is, while there is so much poverty, so much fund raising for so many causes, so much sickness and hopelessness…what good is that money sitting in a vault? Education, health and children…the future is far more important.
I understand your angst Jools. I really do. With the world seeming to be divided into ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ it can seem unfair. But taking from the rich to give to the poor isn’t equitable either. Better by far for them to want to give it of their own free will. I understand that both Gibson and McCartney are significant philanthropists supporting projects close to their hearts. McCartney is directly involved with around 16 different charities and causes and Gibson (and his wife) have been involved with a number of charities too including Mending Kids International and the rebuilding of homes in Veracruz after Hurricane Stan in 2005. Sure they could possibly do more… but I guess we can’t always assume that the numbers that get bandied around in the press for divorce settlements is in any way accurate. With our current gossip fuelled media… who on earth would know where the truth really lies? I say good luck to them. They too have their significant cross to bear. Come to think of it… I wouldn’t have wanted to be in either of their shoes in recent times! LOL But I love the music and admire the talent… and wonder what the world would have looked like if they’d not been in the right place at the right time… and had the success they did. The world would certainly have been a much poorer place without the Beatles… that’s for sure.
Jean, you are so right! Great post about having faith. Transitions come to all of us, and faith is the only thing that sees us through change. Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about faith and how it carries us through life. You are one that I have faith in being here with your wise perspectives on life. On another subject, I am awarding you the “Passion for Painting” award, Jean, for your consistent cartoons and your wonderful paintings. You can get the award off my blog Texas Sauce Art Life and find the instructions for accepting it there, too. I think the link is in your sidebar column. Keep up the good work with the cartoons and the essays. They are wonderful!
Oh yes..Mel has certainly been in some of my dreams!! And as for Paul, I do think he is a good person too and have often sung many tunes of his (thinking I sounded pretty damn hot too, I might add!). They just have so much bloody money!! I did not realise that they do the things they do (I knew that Mel donated money to the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney..where it all began for him) – but really it has always perplexed me how money gives one power, it does not seem right to me.
Whoops..sorry Jean, I meant to say congrats on your honour there!!
Hi Vernita
You can’t know how appreciated your lovely words of encouragement are… coming as they do (today) when I find myself needing them most. Thank You. I gratefully accept your Passion For Painting award and shall make my way over to your Blog as soon as I can to receive it. How exciting!
Jools… I’m afraid Mel has never really rocked my boat. Nor Paul really. Besides… he was a bit too old for me anyway (grin) But philanthropically I think they both pull their weight. Being wealthy isn’t a crime. Anyone can do it… if they really want to. It’s “whether they truly want to or not” which stops most people (not always a conscious decision) Most people are simply content with having “enough”.
Hi again Vernita
Maybe I have “a few sheep missing in the top paddock”… but I can’t for the life of me find the instructions on your blog for receiving my gong! Help! LOL