Through my work I meet a lot of thoughtful, successful individuals and I get to visit gorgeous properties in our already beautiful area. To be honest, I’ve often had reservations about ownership and affluence as in my mind it’s closely associated with negative power and control. What I can appreciate is the love and care that these places have been showered with. I’ve realized now that the problem is not one of ownership, but of stewardship.
We’ve become very adept at taming and manipulating everything. Our major political systems are based on and refined around ownership (either as a positive or a negative) – although today none of them seem to totally satisfy. As for stewardship, maybe we haven’t done so well. The earth is burning, what we feed ourselves is making us sick rather than sustaining us, the connections to and between ourselves seem to have loosened.
The attitude of the artist is crucial. She has given up the comfort of worldly possessions and influence, often consciously, in favor of care, a heart connection to things. A real artist might not own many resources, but given the resources he knows how to create beauty. An artist deliberately transcends the power level to enter the heart level.
We all have doubts, too. Don’t ever be fooled that a lack of worldly success is a weakness. Instead, show how to live in the heart, be a steward of the earth, and create beauty regardless of who owns the resources.
The Indispensable Artist 