Simplicity

"Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

-Albert Einstein

Wednesdays are my favorite weeknight. The excitement of Friday night is finally on the horizon and the bummer that is Monday morning is far behind. Wednesday nights I meet my dad at the Chrysler for Jazz Night. Admission is free and a small wine bar is set up where you can grab a $4 glass of wine and enjoy the music. We try to arrive around 6:15 so we can snag a table in the court. We sit and chat and people watch and then wander through a gallery or two.

Good things always happen on Wednesday night. Several months ago we met a gentleman named Mr. Black. He was an elderly fellow, well dressed in a suit with white hair and a warm smile. He was peculiar though, he wrote down the details of our conversation in tiny print in a small notebook that he carried in his coat jacket. He explained himself later, saying that he had Alzheimer's and needed help remembering. Mr. Black told us stories of his late wife Jane who he spoke of from such a deep, joyful place. He recounted driving to visit her at college and seeing her on her dormitory balcony with a few girlfriends. She came down to greet him and he said how nice it was to see her having such fun with her friends to which she replied, "Those aren't my friends, those are my bridesmaids," implying that she was ready to get married. He still sounded giddy some 50 years later.

Life lessons are frozen in paintings, good stories are always waiting to be told and on Wednesday nights truth is perched anxious to be discovered. Last saw it in seeing a young blind man being led by his girlfriend through the museum corridors. And in a Matisse painting. You just have to look.

Dad and I were talking about the future, a topic that is an almost constant conversation at this point in time. We were going over the events of the past few months and putting into words the life movements that have taken place. Where we are now, where we were, the in between, the decisions that were made. We talked about how now feels like such a good place, but a good place that was found, not chosen. It's a joyful, busy place. But really, it is such a good place.

There is so much to be said for stopping and looking at life, finding a still frame of the everyday and really looking at it. Matisse had it right. He stopped. Stopped and looked at the bowl of apples. He saw it simply, reduced down to the basic elements and foundations, portrayed with simple, almost kindergarten-like lines. I love that he reduced things to their most elementary form and in that place found beauty. Beauty worth celebrating in a bright, bold way. I want to do more of that.