Category — goals

I was purusing through some blogs I read on occasion—I often forget how much I like reading them—and came across the latest rumination by the always thoughtful Mona.  She discussed her battle with being ‘asleep’ to some of the urgent needs of society and that perhaps a major change in location would rescue the spirit of action from the grips of neglect.  Some comments were made about there being the same need for valiant servants in the U S of A as well.  I immediately thought of my own situation and a dilemma that has visited me from time to time regarding the somewhat murky future:  would I be abandoning a certain destiny were I to ignore the domestic and permenantly set my sights abroad?

There’s this little commentary about the state of America and where it’s headed called the Advent of Divine Justice, written by Shoghi Effendi.  Within those pages is a perspective which underlines the idea of America having potential for a high, spiritual destiny, not because it is the embodiment of righteousness and justice, clearly, but because it has issues with materialism, corruption, racial prejudice and the like.  To overcome such ills would require intense transformation brought on by hard work, stuggle and determination to reverse the moral lapse in judgement.  This is only a summary; however, it’s this level of awareness which begs consideration.  No matter where you are, there is disintegration happening in an environment near you.

 I can probably start to recognize what it means to have been born in the United States, its fortunes and its responsibilities.  Whether I’m there or somewhere else, there is a lot to to be done.  Through trial and error I can slowly discover where I’m needed the most.  For now, I guess I’ll leave it at that.

The other night I met this guy at a coffee shop, a pilgrim enjoying his last full day in Haifa before returning to home with his brothers.  He talked about his interests, split talents in the sciences and the arts, a desire to do more meaningful service in life as well as deepening his participation in a few other things.   He seemed focused for his young years.  The Bahai world is small, everyone seems to say when they bid themselves farewell.  This is true, and more than likely I could run into him again.  In the meantime, I was briefly inspired by his dedication to some mutual interests and managed to spend most of my day in good company, reading, and painting.

My anxiousness and inner-critic sometimes gets in the way of doing anything, so I made myself start painting the canvas without stressing too much about a plan.  The only problem with not having a plan is that my mind changes so much during the process that it’s hard to develop something coherent.  Thankfully oil paints are slow drying and that I could change my mind, even days later.

The verdict:

A work in progress.  The art show is coming up next month and registration is due to be submitted in a few days.  I’m fairly certain that I won’t have anything finished in that time that I would feel confident presenting, but the deadline has gotten me thinking more about trying to steer myself back toward having a more consistent creative outlet.  I’m trying to gather as much inspiration as I can, through google images, nature, blogs, my own musings, and yes, pilgrims & other such artists.