6-2-02, Sunday Journal
BUSINESSMEN AS ARTISTS
By Dalton Roberts
IPS Features
One thing that convinces me is watching good business persons at work. You can
tell from their glow that business is their method of creative expression.
They get into what they do. They have fun. And having fun is not an outrageous
idea at all. It is an essential one.
Successful business people probably don't see themselves as artists, but
wouldn't it add a new dimension of enjoyment to their work if they did? Imagine
feeling like the Rembrandt of car salesmen! It would add a touch of grandeur to
one's style.
I remember Jack Harris, who ran a little grocery store in the community where I
grew up. He gave you service with a big smile. He was efficient and skillful at
running a country store. It was a joy to watch him at work.
If you are a business person, try seeing yourself as an artist. It could well
call forth new skills from deep inside.
ZEN VIEW OF EVERYONE AS AN ARTIST
On the same day I placed that article on businessmen as artists in my journal, I
also added one by Flora Courtois (Parabola Magazine) on Zen meditation. She
wrote, "Zen says the whole universe is art and we are all artists."
She describes Zen practice as "radically intimate attention." Isn't
that the thing that is happening in any artistic work? The essential word here
is "intimate." Feeling intense and loving about what we are doing. And
about ourselves as we do it.
In my library I have a book listing over 1,700 names humankind has for God.
Strangely, no one has ever called God "artist." And when you look at
the gorgeous colors, shapes and textures of the world, that may be the most
accurate description of all.
If we are made in that image and likeness, we, too, are artists at heart. All we
need to do is release the splendor of our very being.
-30-