On today’s LifeLine podcast episode I share the current reoccurring theme in my life, inspired by my divorce, career, and trip to Italy. This idea of the removal of things, the taking away of things to reveal what is most important, to reveal what already exists, to be able to reveal a higher purpose, to reveal the masterpiece of ourselves. The beauty in the “no”, the beauty of the removal, the beauty of the unrealized, the void, the empty space, to be able to see what remains, to be able to see what emerges, to see what the possibilities are, the beauty that comes in the revelation, the revealing, the beauty of the discovery of what’s next. what’s next for me? what is my purpose here right now? What is my purpose and what I need to do. I have discovered that that has come in my life through the removal of the excess that was never meant to remain a part of me.
I share three examples of this with the emptying of our cup, the clearing of our path, and Michelangelo’s process of subtractive sculpting. Looking at the analogy of our cup from a new perspective we see that the only way that the cup is useful is when it is emptied or when there is space that remains. So many times in our lives we try and learn something new or go into a new relationship, but we try to put things on top of things, just like pouring more tea in our cup, never removing or leaving behind the behaviors that don’t work for us nor working through those things in our past. Emptying our cup or the clearing of our path gives space for new possibilities.
I explore Michelangelo’s philosophy and process of sculpting and how it relates to sculpting ourselves to reveal what already exists, a complete and powerful divine being. Michelangelo believed that the sculptor was a tool of God, not creating but simply revealing the powerful figures already contained in the marble. His task was only to chip away the excess to reveal it. He defined sculpture as the art of taking away, not that of adding on.
Friends listen and be inspired to see there can be beauty in the removal of things. There can be beauty in the taking away. There can be beauty in the “no”. There can be beauty in the unrealized, in the void and the empty space, for it can reveal what exists, what’s most important, what’s complete. It allows the masterpiece to be able to show friends. I am confident in you and your ability to be able to find purpose in your pain, for you to find the light, for you to be able to start seeing more of the goodness that already exists inside of you, that divine being.
Show Notes:
Podcast episode with my mother and sister
“Emptying your cup” by Dr. Barbara Schwarck
“Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors”
“On the value of emptying your cup”
Michelangelo’s Prisoners or Slaves
The Divine Creative Process of Michelangelo
How did Michelangelo create his sculptures?
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