Mixing Colors

This week I'll be using the Artist's Inner Vision set, created by twenty-six artists and published by NoMonet. I'll also be using the Art of Collage Cards, a deck I compiled for personal use from the work of various artists. Today's cards are Temperance and a work by Mariano Peccinetti:

          The woman in this picture seems to be studying intensely. Yet too much of anything can become a not-so-good thing. Does she ever get off that couch and go outside for some fresh air? The paint and brush provide a good analogy for Temperance. To get the right shade, colors often need to be mixed; before moving from one color to the next, the brush must be rinsed. Who would want a painting of only one color? Yet I can easily become consumed by a project or a Big Thing (a death, a serious illness, etc.). I drown in the details of a problem and can't see my life with any perspective. I've given Peccinetti's work the title "Bird's Eye View." If I could hop on that magic carpet, I think I would (after putting on my seat-belt) see my life as a small thread in a large tapestry. My challenges would be no worse than those people and the planet below me. Understanding this concept requires some mental distance between me and whatever is going on. In the words of  Rabih Alameddine, "What happens is of little significance compared with the stories we tell ourselves about what happens."