The Blind Man Society

Written by Elie Zarem, guest blogger.

Once upon a time I was staying with a friend in Adams Morgan, Washington DC – a place I lovingly referred to as ‘Sodom and Gemorgan’ because of all the debauchery that took place there.

I returned to my friend’s place late after a night of revelry. Not quite ready for bed, I went looking for something to watch on TV. I clicked on the remote and found my way to the Independent Film Channel. As luck would have it, there was Picasso, painting.

Inebriated yet intrigued, I watched Picasso paint a landscape, and then a figure, and then paint an object. I am not sure if the show was time-lapsed or in real-time but it was subtitled and I distinctly remember at a certain point thinking; Picasso why don’t you just stop? You’ve got a Picasso! But the subtitles at that very moment read “this couldn’t be worse.” Clearly, Picasso was not happy with his painting – beauty is after all, in the eye of the beholder.

So Picasso returned to his piece and altered the landscape, and added another figure, and added another object, and edited the landscape, and the figures, and so on. Over and over again. And it struck me.

What Picasso was doing was highly illustrative of life itself! The landscapes he was painting paralleled our surroundings and how people regularly change their landscapes – redecorating a room, going from place to place after considering where they’d like to go next or where they need to be. The figures represent us – who we are, who we are with, our connections, etc. That life is lived with others. The objects in the painting symbolized the stuff we use or interact with, the stuff we want, the stuff we want to get rid of. Items.

Over and over again, we live our lives, driven like Picasso by our visions of fit, beauty, and completeness. Using body as brush, we ‘paint’ our life masterpieces all the time. With opportunities to pause not only at red lights, but to assess our work-in-progress and to possibly have another go. Thereby we engage in a ‘Picasso-fication’ of the planet.

The fluidity of life is not bound by the staticity of a painting but it can resemble beautiful masterpieces brought to life. You are an artist. And the rest of us can’t wait to see your work!

About the blogger:

Elie Zarem, a devoted husband and father of three, is a visionary individual deeply intrigued by how to fix the world (Tikkun Olam). As a spiritual mathematician, he passionately explores the dimensions of existence, seeking to unravel the equation of “we + world = better world.” His quest goes beyond conventional boundaries, driven by a profound belief that understanding dimensionality can unlock the secrets to enhancing the human experience. You can often find Elie at ezarem@gmail.com or on the disc golf course.