Friday, July 23, 2010

DAY 348 I Shall Rise Again


Hi Journal & Friends,

For my Friday Favorites, I'd like to share a video that moves me... let me first tell you why.



For years, one of my favorite artists has been Vincent Van Gogh (can click any of the pics to enlarge).



Yes, the one that is famous for cutting off a small part of his own earlobe. It's too bad that is all a lot of people know about his life. In 1853 he was born in Holland, and died only 37 years later.



If you'd like to read in-depth, try out the Vincent Van Gogh Gallery (HERE). 



Before I give you a short overview of his life, let me explain WHY I've been thinking about him. 

Because it's been a hard, hard week for me. 

Emotional ups and downs. Um... mostly downs. Deeply painful and heartwrenching downs... and yes, I've been eating too much. Sigh. 

Not like I used to... no blowouts or crazy stuff. But maintenance portions, under 2000 calories, 3 days this week. I won't lose weight that way!!!  Sure, the stuff I chose was on my plan, but that's not the point. I was eating even when I wasn't hungry. 

I was "thinking" about what had happened... but not working through it, making peace with it, getting emotional closure on it. Big difference.

I want my peace back. I want my passion for the journey back. I want my passion for LIFE back. I want to be excited again about my future. Let me tell ya... once you get a taste of that, then fall on your face and lose that feeling--even if only for a few days--YOU MISS IT!!

Now I KNOW the difference. I can feel it missing. I want that exhuberance back! And that means making right choices, starting right now.



Vincent Van Gogh lived passionately, felt deeply, and painted with all his heart. 



Yes, he had struggles. 

He struggled with his emotional stability, spending time voluntarily in a sanitarium.

He struggled financially all his life... he only sold one painting in his lifetime, and was supported by his brother Theo.

He struggled with his relationship with God... at one time he was studying to be a preacher.

He struggled with the rejection from the haughty, rigid art establishment of the day.



Yet he lived passionately! He was unique, and refused to be an art clone. 



Today, he would have been treated with more compassion by medical specialists familiar with both Epilepsy and Bipolar Disorder. Back then, the cure was often worse than the condition. Sadly, eventually he did take his own life in the midst of a depression.


But in spite of all that he struggled with, he tried, in his better times, to live life to the fullest, and to show that passion in his paintings.



Some quotes from Vincent Van Gogh:

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed. 

I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.

I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process. 

If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing. 

One must work and dare if one really wants to live.

One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul and yet no one ever came to sit by it. Passers-by see only a wisp of smoke from the chimney and continue on their way.

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.


 
In 1971 Don McLean read a biography of Vincent Van Gogh and was so moved, that he wrote the song titled "Vincent".

"Vincent" , Sung by Don McLean




From Dr Phil's book: "You can create an internal dialogue that is healthy, constructive, and joyful."

My verse for today: "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence."

My quote for today: "Creativity is like breathing... pointers may help, but we do the process ourselves." --Julia Cameron

Enjoy the Journey,

Loretta
=^..^=

11 comments:

Sheilagh said...

Oh Boy, did I need to read this, thank you so much xxx

Jules - Big Girl Bombshell said...

Van Gogh is my daughter's fav....

Creativity is an important part of life that we often don't find the time for!

Great post!

Christine said...

I love vincent van goghs work...strangely enough, I love the sowers. I always have. It reminds me of Jesus. BOth with the painting and his life..throwing his seeds out there, some settling by the wayside, some take root but blowing away and some sticking, but all flourishing after he died. Vincent didn't know that after he left, many would come and sit by his hearth. But he threw his seeds out there anyway.
Love this post.

Leslie said...

Beautiful post, Loretta. I also love Vincent Van Gogh, and am starting to read "Lust For Life" by Irving Stone about Van Gogh. Alwasy been a favorite, and my # 1 mug has an image of Starry Night on it.

I'm sorry you've had some emotionally wrenching days, but you have a wealth of resources, both from with and from your community to offer support and keep you bouyant.

bloojay said...

I love Van Gogh; I have a couple of prints of his paintings hanging in my apartment.

There are people who feel so deeply-- it's much more than being happy or sad, it's being positively exuberant or utterly devastated. You get to feel the highs so incredibly, it's like life itself is a drug; but on the flip side, you also feel the lows more strongly than anyone else, and it can be very hard to learn to overcome them for some. It can be a blessing and a curse, we can't experience and appreciate the good so greatly without equally being able to experience the bad. Van Gogh simply was one of those people who felt things more deeply than most of us will ever dream.

Retta said...

Thanks, Jules!

I enjoy reading your blog, but the comment option won't work for me. So let me just wish you fantastic success with the Artist's Way Forum... it sounds so interesting. I've never read the book by Julia Cameron, but after reading about her, I'm looking for it. :-)

Loretta
=^..^=

Anonymous said...

Ahhh, yes. It's been a week, for us both, then, hasn't it?

A long time ago, when things were very dark for me and staying alive was difficult, I held onto the folowing verse.

It was my battle cry that said I refused to be permanently defeated. On occasion, even now, it is a verse that gives me the oomph I need when...well, when darkness thinks it's winning.

(I'm not saying that it's that dark for you at all! But it's a good verse for less dramatic, but still difficult times, too. Say it with gusto. :D)

From Micah 7:8. Rejoice not against me, O my enemy, for when I fall, I shall arise. And though I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me!

By the time I thunder to the end of that verse, joy arises.

Deb

Anonymous said...

Sorry you are having a rough week, but glad that you are aware of what is going on and know what to do about it.

I am a big fan of Van Gogh...being Dutch and all. Beautiful works of art.

Just like each one of us.

Thanks for the blog award...I will pick it up tomorrow.

Hugs Loretta!

Dayne Gingrich said...

Love this post. Keep stepping.

It's not about the finish line. Sometimes it can't even be about PASSION. Very often, it simply has to be about step(s).

Dayne

Anonymous said...

all death is ultimately a suicide as we bring about the events that cause it when we are ready to go, even if they are indirect. I know that is a controversial opinion, but it is what I think. It was his time to go whether we like it or not. Had it not been his time, he would not have succeeded.
He was a great artist!

Joy said...

I am sorry you've had a rough week. Keep pushing through ~ you will be back on top soon! Hugs!

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