Open Up

“Open Up,” 8×10, pen and ink

Another drawing from my How to Save the World series, hot off the drawing board. I also put the print version for sale in my Shop.

As you may have guessed, this one is about opening up– not in the dentist sense, but in the “open your heart and mind” sense. I don’t necessarily mean you need to start sharing your deepest, darkest secrets- I am trying to say how important it is to open your heart and mind, not even to people, but to the world in general.

So often, we all go along with tunnel vision (I am a compulsive “to do” list writer), thinking only of what we need to accomplish next, what we need to do now, how we can maximize our efficiency. But for me, when I start really thinking of what I want to make my life about, it is not about money or big accomplishments, or being the best at anything– I want to make my life about appreciation: appreciation of this world, of the people in it, of the miracles of being human, of those small moments and things that make everything worth it, of laughter about being alive.

I know it’s a cliche to say we should appreciate each moment, but cliches are often based in truth. Those moments when my heart laughs itself open in the sheer pleasure of being alive, are worth building a life around.

This theme seems to be developing through all of these “How to Save the World” drawings, so I apologize if it seems like my explanation for each one seems the same, but I’m beginning to think I can’t hear these things enough. I suppose I am making these drawings to define and remind myself how I want to live.

I may have said this in my first explanation of this drawing project, but I think that Saving the World starts with saving yourself. That may sound egotistical–it may be egotistical, but it seems to me, that the only person you can really change is yourself, and when we are able to be the best version of ourselves, we are able to really give.