Last Month, Hanna Harwood came to the PMAC meeting and read her essay “Life and Work of Art.” We thank Hanna for allowing us to present the full text of her essay here.
Life as a Work of Art
by Hanna Harwood
One of the most influential people in my life was my fourth grade teacher, Roger Ganas. Roger taught his students that everything is precious, – from moments in time to seemingly worthless objects, such as the hubcaps and discarded refrigerator magnets that we made into sculptures with hot glue and duct tape, – and that the strongest way live life and give back to the world is to create as you live. The most important lessons that I took from that school year were the art of continual creation and appreciation of the extraordinary beauty in a mundane world. These simple philosophies are the two core beliefs that I try to incorporate into my life.
In life, and especially as an adolescent, it is easy to take the world for granted and learn to be blind to its surprise and wonder. The term that Roger particularly used for this state of mind was ‘jaded’, and to me this term has come to mean a complete and utter blindness to everything that the world has to offer you. It is also easy to be overwhelmed by the sadness in the world, – the political situations our country is involved in, the advance of AIDS, the threat of environmental catastrophe, and countless more. These are all factors of our daily lives, and awareness of them colors our perceptions. However, I believe that it is just as important to acknowledge the opportunity and happiness that our lives offer us. The simple beauties of life, even the little things like a stranger holding a door open for you or the color the clouds turn at sunset, are gifts given to us from the world, and in treating them with gratitude and openness your life can be made sweeter and more worthwhile.
The continual creation of art is my way to give back to the world, translating the beauty I see into something that can inspire and bring joy to others. My personal philosophy of life requires me to be constantly working to create something new and valuable to put into the world, because I believe that any day of your life where you produce nothing is a day of your life that has been wasted. To create and build fuels the imagination and fulfills our potential as human beings, cultivating the world around us into something extraordinary. To resign yourself to a dull life without art and without joy is a waste of a lifetime. Your own life, and how you live it, is the most sincere artwork you can create. This, more than anything else, is the core belief around which I build my life, – to live life as if it is a work of art, not just as your own individual life but as a component part of the world around you.
