Organized Chaos

At 216 N 4th Avenue, you will find a place called Cafe Verde. When you walk through the door and step inside, there’s a painting on your righthand side.

At first glance, it seems like chaos. As you stare at it, you will see the lines and blots come together in patterns. We may see similar patterns in our lives. Close analysis of a day in the life may look like absolute madness. Seeing how each streak makes up an organized whole gives insight as to why the seemingly insignificant streaks exist.

Artists are perhaps the greatest teachers for seeing things as a whole. While they pay attention to detail, they also demonstrate the ability to tie individual elements seamlessly into a larger whole. Details are not negligible, certainly. Those are what set a piece apart from others. Reading into them can be fun and thought provoking. Stepping back from those details and seeing how they influence the grand scheme of the image may allow you to see a completely different image.

Sometimes, I catch myself getting impatient, wondering why something about this day occurred, how it plays into my future, which strand in all the chaos it represents. While I cannot see the overall masterpiece that my life paints in this very moment, I can trust that all the loose ends will meet in the end. For now, enjoy the puzzling parts of life, don’t linger on that strand long, for there are so many other lines to explore.