The Philosophy of Mr Squiggle

I was meant to be a writer. Then I was going to be an accountant. By the time I put my QTAC  preferences in for which Uni course I wanted to do, I was going to be a psychologist. Then I was called to be a priest. Then I wasn't. Then I was again. Then I wasn't again. 

Life for me hasn't been linear. If I was to draw a timeline of my life to this point it might look like something Mr Squiggle would draw. Perhaps that's the best way explain how I've come to understand my life. Mr Squiggle would draw something and it wouldn't make any sense at all, but then he'd flip it upside down and the picture would make a lot more sense:

I'm no art expert, but imagine looking at an artwork with your nose pressed against the canvas. You might notice some minute details, but you miss the grandeur and the beauty of the whole artwork. You really have to take a step back to let the whole artwork make an impression on you.

But you can't just take a step back for two seconds, you really need to stop for a good moment and let the whole artwork impress upon you, to let each and every detail jump out. It takes time to let your eyes dance across the colours and the details and to take it all in.

And if, like me, you're not an art expert, you may need to look at it with someone else and ask them for their observations. Often another pair of eyes will pick up the details we're too ignorant or too pigheaded to see by ourselves. Someone else's input may point something out we've never realised before.

My life is an artwork in progress, but I'm not the only artist. There are contributing artists other people in my life and of course, God. If my nose is pressed against the canvas then I miss all the other stuff that's going on. 

My life hasn't always made sense in the moment. But as I take the time to step back and look and listen to others observations, the artwork begins to make more sense. And sometimes, like Mr Squiggle, I have to flip it upside down to see the picture.