La Vie

I have a tendency to look at the world through the eyes of a cynic. When cynicism gets the best of me, I try to remedy my feelings by looking at what people create as opposed to what they dismantle.

Take paintings, for example. The artistically predisposed people of the world are able to make a career out of exploring the thoughts and emotions that make us human. Instead of going through the motions while sitting behind a computer all day, they're translating their feelings and imaginations into forms that are appreciated and admired by the masses. Yes, a great deal of artists may be considered "starving," but what they lack in funds they make up for in originality. 

Another example is music. A revolution can be sparked by a song, and a world can unite behind a beat. Musicians of every genre and at every level of success fill in the awkward silences of life, communicating with sound what one may not always be able to say in words.  

Then there's architecture. There are buildings all over the world that have stood the test of time and are testaments to human intelligence and ingenuity, each nook and cranny calculated and executed with care and expertise.  Bridges, skyscrapers, cathedrals; all of these edifices started as nothing but an idea that someone sketched on paper, and were erected solely through the power of human collaboration. 

Human beings, by definition, are flawed. The world can be a scary place to live. On the darkest days, sometimes all it takes is a song or work of art to remind us that life is a shared experience, and us earthlings are all in this together.

This is La Vie, the largest and most complex work from Pablo Picasso's Blue Period. The work stands 2 meters tall and is a beautiful yet dark depiction of mortality and the human condition.