While reading this blog you may wonder, “this has nothing to do with art, artists, or museums.” Well, you don’t always get what you anticipate—regardless of planning—what you think you deserve, or what you feel you are entitled to.
Given the current state of the world due to the pandemic, we have all been forced to “adjust” our planned lives. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but pandemics, wars, genocide, and all sorts of catastrophes—both big and small—are part of life. Birth, sunsets, love, compassion, art (there we go!), friendship, etc. are all part of life as well. At a bare minimum, we hope for a balance of the two; we desire for an abundance of the good to tip the scale.
These musings have me thinking of George Shackleton, the ship captain of the Endurance who, along with his crew, set sail from England in August of 1914. In the Antarctic, the Endurance was locked in ice just short of their destination. What followed was ten-months of drifting in the ice that eventually crushed the ship forcing the crew of 27 to make an arduous 850-mile trek to an outpost of civilization. (Read the book Endurance by Alfred Lansing for the full heroic story.) I think Shackleton and his crew would have whole-heartedly agreed with my declaration in the first paragraph that life does not always go according to plan.
The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche stated, “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.” Though we should not confuse being inconvenienced with suffering, the result should be the same. We should anticipate that our best-laid plans are often changed due to things beyond our control, as well as find meaning and wisdom for moving forward.
Patrick Kelly, Executive Director and Curator
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