Painting

Literature and the arts make some people feel unbearably uneasy.

Those people begin to question their own lives: Have I always lived in deep reflection? Have I always striven to learn and develop my taste for the high arts? Have I thought about my place in this world, and what to do about it?

No, they say. No, they shake their heads. They have been to busy trying to feed themselves and their families. They have toiled for so long to secure their social standing, keep a roof over their heads, and make sure they have insurance and the benefits. They have been too busy.

Then some of them, although not all, begin accusing the literati of idling their time, like good, well-endowed dilettantes. When we have been working so hard. But on what?

It's true some members of the literati are indeed idle, or boring, or both. But the accusers also paint an unnecessarily bleak picture of the world, making it seem as if it were human destiny to have no time and money to spare for colors, music, and words - for reflection. If one believes in this picture, then the world becomes just that.

But remember, it is just a picture. It can be torn down or repainted. (Or exalted.) I wish the number of men and women running for-profit businesses who also appreciate thoughtfulness and good taste will increase. They are the potential champions, much more than benefactors on the periphery.

The greatest fallacy in business is to equate time with money and understanding that equation as a motive for cutting back on time. No; just as money ought to be enjoyed, time also ought to be enjoyed. If one cut back on it, there would be nothing left.

Also, please don't "invest." The expectation of a return is stifling and, quite simply, stressful. Seriously, it is okay if the "returns" never come. Take it easy, please, for everyone's sake.

Yes? Children are starving in Africa? Don't throw around Africa too much like a ball; Africa is the place of culture. Look, there is a starving man under the bridge, right under your foot in Metropolitan Europe, or Japan, South Korea, or whatever place where people are not supposed to be starving. Yes, money is not easy to share. Then, what about time? Share your time, in whatever way - there are more than billion possible channels - so the person the most distant from you, or the most proximate to you, can step forward with a renewed sense of hope and optimism.

Start by painting a picture.