Dalton Roberts

--from the
 Chattanooga
 Times Free Press

 Main Page

Shopping Mini-Mall

Times Free Press Archives

BUSINESS CAN BE AN ART FORM 
2-13-04

In 1989 I read an article in Brain and Mind Bulletin suggesting that people with skill in business are artists. The more I ponder that idea and think of some business whizzes I have known, the more I like it.

A small business owner I remember vividly was Charlie White, who owned a Western Auto store in East Chattanooga. He took pride in being an independent small business owner and showed it with one of the most magnanimous smiles I have ever seen. It was such a pleasure to walk in his store and be treated like a king.

I think of Joe Decosimo getting up at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning building a worldwide business. Purely aside from the fact that he had to make some money to support the large family he and Rachel wanted, he had a zest for excellence that showed in everything he did.

There was a glow about both of these men. Indeed, every person I have ever seen in the throes of creativity had such a glow. One of my most vivid memories of my songwriting days in Nashville was running into the great Shel Silverstein as he went into a publisher’s office with a new tape of songs. If Nashville had experienced a blackout right then, Shel’s face would have kept it lit up.

My favorite picture of my mother showed her writing on the front porch in her favorite writing chair. It was the glow on her face that drew me to it. No, it wasn’t just on her face. It radiated out from her like a Christmas tree on a cold December night.

So I ask you, what is the difference in a great painter sitting at his easel and a great businessman or woman sitting in their business thinking up creative ideas for better products or service and, yes, to make more money?

I see no difference in the two but we have not been trained to think of businessmen and women as artists. If you are a businessperson, try thinking of yourself as an artist and notice the extra flairs of beauty showing up in your work. Imagine seeing yourself as the Rembrandt of car salesmen! It would add a touch of grandeur to your style.

When we are in the blissful grip of creativity of any kind, we are having fun. Having fun is not an outrageous idea at all. It is essential to success of any kind in any field. If you are not having fun on your job, take it as a challenge to find ways to add fun to it and you will crank up a little glow to light up your get-up-and-go.

In an article on Zen meditation in Parabola Magazine Flora Courtois wrote, “Zen says the whole universe is art and we are all artists.” She described Zen practice as “radically intimate attention.” Isn’t that exactly what is happening in any artistic work whether it is playing a violin or selling a house?  The important word here is “intimate” – feeling intense and loving about what we are doing. Aren’t we fortunate that it makes us feel the same way about ourselves?

In my library I have a book listing over 1700 names we humans have come up with for God. Strangely, no one has ever called the Creator “Artist.” When you look at the gorgeous colors, shapes and textures of the world, “Artist” may be the most accurate description of all.

If we are made in that image and likeness as we have been taught then we, too, are artists at heart. All we need to do in our work – whatever it may be – is to release the splendor of our very being.

Let me paraphrase a great saying by John Gardner: “Unless we have respect for both our plumbers and philosophers, neither our pipes nor our theories will hold water.”