A few days ago, I took my annual trip to the local museum.
I was standing in front of this humongous 150-year old painting of a landscape, marveling it. It was incredible to think that one person painted this entire thing, brushstroke by brushstroke. It might have taken them months to complete it, and it was one of many paintings by this artist. When the lady entered the room, I moved to the other side, since I had been staring at the same painting for a very long time. The woman was immediately attracted to the same painting I was attracted to, and sped toward it until she was standing inches away from it. Within seconds, she began critisizing this incredible work, pointing out small otherwise unnoticable errors to her friend who said nothing. I gawked at her and the painting from across the room, almost amazed at what I was hearing. One of the terms she used the most to describe the painting was "terrible." I left the room shaking my head.
My run in with the Art Critic stuck with me for many reasons.
The main reason was that it reminded me of how as humans we often don't see the whole picture. A lot of times we stand too close to a situation, nitpicking the little problems we have or feeling crappy about the little mistakes we made, instead of stepping back and seeing the big picture. We judge ourselves on the little errors instead of the beautiful masterpiece.
We see ourselves as too fat, too ugly, too awkward, too (insert false self-criticism here) instead of stepping back and seeing that despite our minor flaws, each of us is a breathtaking landscape, an amazing work of art. Everyone in the world makes up an infinate gallery of one-of-a-kind paintings.
There are two ways to view this gallery. You can stand inches away from each painting, pointing out all flaws and inconsistancies. You judge everyone you meet by their little imperfections. Or you can choose to stand at a distance and marvel at the uniqueness that each work has to offer.
Ultimately, the choice is up to you.
But I know that I would rather be an awestruck observer rather than an art critic.
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