Stuck in Paradise

One of my favorite cities in the world is London, England. I can't recall a time when I was in London that it didn't feel like paradise to me. All those museums! The hardest decision of the day was which masterpiece to stare at. For me as an artist it is utter paradise, and I am never there often enough or long enough. I ran across this amazing photo and thought how much the cabbie's London was not my London. There they were, standing frustrated in the streets of my paradise! How can it be?

I am absolutely capable of missing a wonderful time or place because of a distraction that keeps me from what was important. How much do I miss, as these cab drivers miss, my surroundings in a moment of frustration when I feel utterly stuck.  Miss the masterpieces. Miss the cloudless day. Here they are surrounded by gorgeous architecture housing collections of masterpieces spanning centuries, just stuck. All the beauty becomes like a wall we walk past and we can no longer enter in.

Then we realize it's time to stop and take a breath, remember what's important. Park the car, stop the hurry, stare at some art that a person long since passed away had created, probably before there was a car, or electricity, or before paint came so nicely packaged in tubes ready to squeeze out. I suppose it's good to recall that one plays a part in a larger fabric of time that spans many centuries, and this moment of frustration, this too, shall pass.