What You See Is What You Get

So a guy got on the subway today, looking for money like some people do sometimes. They're not supposed to do that on subways, but they do anyway. What else is new. The point here, though, is that this guy's opening line was, "I wasn't born blind." (Coincidentally, he appeared to be blind). What was funny that my first thought, when he said this, was, "None of us were."

And I didn't think that just because everyone on the train could see. It made me think about how we are all so impressionable when we're born, and what's often taken as innocence in kids might actually just be an all-knowing wisdom that we've since become blind to. When you're just born, you can see everything. You don't become metaphorically blind until you grow up and are taught what to see and what not to see.

It has a lot to do with art. I don't think there's one definition of good art and bad art. It varies from person to person, but therein lies the blindness. Some of us see beauty where others don't, and the only reason the value of art varies is because there really is no better or worse - we just think we know one from the other when there really is no difference.

Take the Dali exhibit that just left the MoMA, for example: I went through it with my mom and left amazed at what I learned, while my mom just said, "He was weird; there was only one painting that I liked." I thought about trying to explain to her how it doesn't matter what you like and don't like, but I realized that maybe she already understood that. She just didn't understand how other people could like what she didn't. I had a better time, I think, because I promised myself not to pass judgement - I learned a lot about Dali's career and the things he thought were important, which gave me a new (if only temporary) perspective on the world. This isn't to say that I'm better at looking at art than my mom, but it fascinated me to find how differently we saw the array of paintings and films. These two different experiences, for me, signal that Dali made some really great art.

This has already been an exhausting week, and it's only been two days. Also, I've spent a lot of time procrastinating today, which makes today seem even longer. I know that I'm fine, though, if I get a philosophical moment off of what someone said on the subway...