A new job description

As a parent, I am a curator of souls. I quite like this idea.

I imagine as curator I walk around and survey the building. I check to see if there are any repairs or bandages needed, I make sure all of the items are carefully maintained, making sure needs are met. I organize, I plan discussions, I choose paintings. I get to consider the color scheme and the light and how much public time the outside world experiences the artwork of the inner chambers. I am conscious of encouraging a healthy balance between the inner silence and outer activity. Sometimes I get to stand in front of these most amazing paintings, ones that are far better than the Mona Lisa or Monet's Water Lilies, and stare. I have the luxury to stand there for as long as I want and I love it. Sometimes I stare at them with only the light of the moon, and I know something is really unique about this artwork. Someday, these paintings will be shared with the world more fully, but for now, I get to live with them.

I am always amazed at what these paintings teach me about life, humanity, about forgiveness, about the creative spirit, about the Divine. Sometimes I invite people to come and experience the paintings. These paintings carry deep histories. Layers upon layers of paint, so many colors, these paintings are clearly a window to the spiritual world. Their bodies have a history that I am only beginning to learn and know. That is what is great about artwork, you can see it over and over and over again, and still come to have new experiences and insights every time you are in its presence of its color and patterns and its story. I am also interested in how these paintings will fare in the world? What they offer the world? What do they tell us about the sacred? More than discussing, though, I like to experience these masterpieces, first hand.


I find myself hoping for these paintings what I hope for myself: interdependence, compassion, wonder, self-knowledge, emotional intelligence, passion, creativity, and many pauses for contemplation.

I have always dreamed of spending days and days walking and working, living and breathing in long coridoors with our most treasured paintings. I did not think I would be offered the job so easily with such little training, but suprises seem to happen a lot lately. All