“The Art of Being Awake: Make Life a Masterpiece"

What is it about the great works of art that captivate us? Maybe because it provides a sense of return, similar to entering an unfamiliar area and discovering something painfully familiar there. The inexpressible human emotions that we constantly discuss but are never able to fully articulate are translated by art. For example, the English word "love" strives to encompass all of its manifestations, including tender, fierce, transient, and eternal, whereas other languages have a whole constellation of meanings. And yet, somehow, a brushstroke, a melody, or a line of poetry can render love with more truth than grammar ever could.

To live artfully isn’t about becoming an artist in the strict sense; it’s about cultivating presence, curiosity, and care in ordinary moments. Marina Abramović calls it “doing nothing as the start of something,” a reminder that stillness can be an act of creation too. Maybe that’s why simply standing before a painting can soften the noise within us; King’s College London found that stress hormones drop by more than a fifth when we experience art in person. The mind sighs, attention recalibrates, and the self​, usually scattered​, gathers quietly.

Authors such as Claudia Winkleman and Hisham Matar advise taking art one piece at a time. Examine once, then again afterwards. Observe how it evolves while you do so. Open a book or look up a painting online if you are unable to visit a gallery. Let someone see it. What do you see, I wonder? Something awakens in that brief conversation, a shared private resonance.

The pulse of nature, the slowness of time, and the wonder of creating something out of almost nothing are all things that artists remind us to observe. In a time when AI algorithms create what once required hands and a heart, returning to art becomes an act of reclamation. To insist on being human is to create or observe.

Consider Frida Kahlo, who used her suffering to create colour. Her life's wounds were all depicted on canvas, not to glorify pain but to demonstrate that love is always worth the price, no matter how scorching or bruised. Through her work, we come to understand that we are part of a lineage of perseverance rather than being unique in our struggles.

So take a look outside. Look until it feels fresh once more. Talk to strangers, look up at the sky, and take note of the late afternoon light slant. Give it your full attention. 

That, too, is art​, the subdued arrangement of an awake life.

Sarge