Art is Life and Life is Art
Art as a Reflection of My Life
Looking back, my career at the FDA was not just a profession—it was a canvas of service. Each policy, each decision, each effort to safeguard public health was a brushstroke in the bigger picture of protecting lives. Even in the darkest days, like the aftermath of 9/11, I witnessed humanity’s resilience and courage. That experience reminded me that life itself, even in pain and loss, carries a kind of raw beauty worth remembering and recording.
Life as My Work of Art
As I grew older, especially after facing health challenges such as Stage 4 kidney disease, I began to see life as a living artwork. Every day is a stroke of color—sometimes vibrant, sometimes subdued—but always essential to the whole composition. Blogging since 2009 has been my way of sharing these colors with the world. Each story, reflection, and memory I’ve written has become part of a larger tapestry, one that I hope continues to inspire others long after I am gone.
The Everyday Artist in All of Us
I’ve learned that we are all artists, even if we don’t call ourselves that. A mother raising her children, a teacher inspiring young minds, a chef preparing a meal—all of these are acts of creativity. My own canvas has been filled not only with professional achievements and personal challenges, but also with family, friendships, and the joy of storytelling. These are the true works of art that define a life.
A Masterpiece in Progress
If art is meant to move, to teach, to connect, then perhaps our lives are the greatest masterpieces we leave behind. My journey—through science, through tragedy, through illness, through words—has been my humble contribution to the ongoing gallery of human experience. Imperfections are part of it, just as shadows give depth to light.
Closing Reflection
And so, I return to the belief that art is life, and life is art. My hope is that my writings, memories, and reflections will stand as evidence of a life lived with purpose, resilience, and creativity. Each of us, in our own way, is painting a masterpiece. The question is not whether life is art, but how we choose to color it—and how it will inspire others when they pause to look at the canvas we leave behind.
Meanwhile, here are some creations from our Pressed Flowers Art Glass Yesterday. Thank You, Kristi. I had a great time. Two of them are mine.
I feel that the essence of spiritual practice is your attitude toward others.
Having a gentle spirit, a kind spirit, a compassionate spirit toward oneself and others really does make space for the growth and the teachability that keeps us moving into the direction that we want to go. It’s not always easy to hold that kind of compassion and kindness for oneself, but to me that’s often where the work is.
When we’re looking for compassion, we need someone who is deeply rooted, able to bend and, most of all, embraces us for our strengths and struggles.
The nature of humanity, its essence, is to feel another’s pain as one’s own, and to act to take that pain away. There is nobility in compassion, a beauty in empathy, a grace in forgiveness.
Grace, like water, flows to the lowest part.
Love is holy because it is like grace — the worthiness of its object is never really what matters.
Life is grace. Sleep is forgiveness. The night absolves. Darkness wipes the slate clean, not spotless to be sure, but clean enough for another day's chalking.
Grace is beauty in motion, or rather grace regulates the air, the attitudes and movements of beauty.
Grace has been defined the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul.
Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait.
