MY SUNDAY JOURNAL
By Dalton Roberts
IPSFeature
6-2-02

BUSINESSMEN AS ARTISTS

In ‘89 I read an article in Brain & Mind Bulletin suggesting that people with skill in business are artists. Each year as I have come to this page in my journal, I have pondered that idea and find it increasingly attractive.

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.