The true reality of the existence of reflective bricks
"It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors." Oscar Wilde said it. The art is nothing until it is translated into thought. The significance of the art has its roots in the spectator, and not in the surrounding world or in the art itself. We go through life with the supposition that reality is concrete, that it exists wholly independently as it's true self. The brick, the mortar, that makes up the wall of a home is simply a piece of fired clay stuck to other fired clay by some sand and cement. That is the impersonal reality of it. But is not reality - or what we know of it - just simply the general conclusions which we come to through observation? It is the spectator that gives identity or perspective to existence.
Some persons may see the mentioned brick in different ways. One man says it is a brick, nothing more; but another man, an architect perhaps, comprehends the vital purpose that the particular brick - and every other brick - fulfils in the structure of the wall and the entire building. A historian will see the brick as an index to the bricklaying tradition upon which civilizations have been built. Reality, therefore, is in the eye of the beholder. It can therefore be concluded that Reality mirrors the participant - or spectator - rather than Reality mirroring some sort of absolute truth in the minds of men.
The subject cannot escape further application. It is not a stretch of logic to call a person's life a work of art, since a life - like a piece of art - is a work of creation. We are each artists with our own canvass and our own brush. Each decision is a stroke of paint, a thought, a communicated inspiration. The observer of this painting sees what he may. The observer may judge, he may criticize, or he may praise each detail and the image as a whole. Whatever conclusion the observer may come to is directly spawned from his own consciousness, his own values, and his own prejudices. The worst fiends that have walked the earth have been hailed as heroes, geniuses, psychopaths, and monsters by different people with different perspectives, beliefs, etc. What does the life of the fiend mirror? Is the answer the set of circumstances in which the fiend lived? Is it the world around him? To observe the observations of the observer of such a person would be more revealing of the observer than anything or anyone else. The life itself mirrors the spectator of that life rather than general truth because, depending on the spectator, what constitutes "reality" can vary greatly.
One step further... As we go through life is it the circumstances in which we live that determine our reality, or do we take control and create our own reality? The circumstances in this case being likened to the art, we can say that whatever we decide to think of life is a revelation of ourselves. What we see is simply a child of our own perspective and attitude. What we see is never impartial truth. Truth, in the moment, is unchangeable. What we think of the truth, what we see in it, what we do about it, is what makes our reality. Reality is what we make it out to be. We see what we want to see. Hopefully, as spectators of the world we can see a good reflection on the canvass. As we move toward perfection, the art becomes more pleasing. The goal is to stare back benevolently at ourselves, no matter brushstrokes.
Some persons may see the mentioned brick in different ways. One man says it is a brick, nothing more; but another man, an architect perhaps, comprehends the vital purpose that the particular brick - and every other brick - fulfils in the structure of the wall and the entire building. A historian will see the brick as an index to the bricklaying tradition upon which civilizations have been built. Reality, therefore, is in the eye of the beholder. It can therefore be concluded that Reality mirrors the participant - or spectator - rather than Reality mirroring some sort of absolute truth in the minds of men.
The subject cannot escape further application. It is not a stretch of logic to call a person's life a work of art, since a life - like a piece of art - is a work of creation. We are each artists with our own canvass and our own brush. Each decision is a stroke of paint, a thought, a communicated inspiration. The observer of this painting sees what he may. The observer may judge, he may criticize, or he may praise each detail and the image as a whole. Whatever conclusion the observer may come to is directly spawned from his own consciousness, his own values, and his own prejudices. The worst fiends that have walked the earth have been hailed as heroes, geniuses, psychopaths, and monsters by different people with different perspectives, beliefs, etc. What does the life of the fiend mirror? Is the answer the set of circumstances in which the fiend lived? Is it the world around him? To observe the observations of the observer of such a person would be more revealing of the observer than anything or anyone else. The life itself mirrors the spectator of that life rather than general truth because, depending on the spectator, what constitutes "reality" can vary greatly.
One step further... As we go through life is it the circumstances in which we live that determine our reality, or do we take control and create our own reality? The circumstances in this case being likened to the art, we can say that whatever we decide to think of life is a revelation of ourselves. What we see is simply a child of our own perspective and attitude. What we see is never impartial truth. Truth, in the moment, is unchangeable. What we think of the truth, what we see in it, what we do about it, is what makes our reality. Reality is what we make it out to be. We see what we want to see. Hopefully, as spectators of the world we can see a good reflection on the canvass. As we move toward perfection, the art becomes more pleasing. The goal is to stare back benevolently at ourselves, no matter brushstrokes.
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