bateson: vision of heaven by kipling is my vision of liberation

in the mary catherine bateson episode of on being, bateson cites her mom’s love of a particular poem, when earth’s picture is painted by rudyard kipling. the full poem is at the end, but i really liked the conversation krista had with bateson about the poem’s vision of heaven.

in a sense, it is one way of describing what i imagine an ideal world would be like. in fact, in a sense, it’s the world i’m working towards with my all of my support work: coaching, website building, and personal storytelling.

i’m working towards a world where, as the poem says, people get to exercise “tireless creativity.” where people just get to do their passion whenever they want but can rest as long as they want and also have great supplies (a ten league canvas with brushes made of comet hair). my work about personal storytelling is about helping us understand ourselves so we can better understand how to relate to each other. my work on identity and portfolios is about supporting people to present themselves to the world as they wish to engage in it. and my coaching work is about supporting folks (mostly poc but not exclusively) to be and move and work in the world in ways that align with their identity while also moving towards real goals.

heaven is a place on earth, right?

When Earth’s Last Picture Is Painted

When Earth’s last picture is painted
And the tubes are twisted and dried
When the oldest colors have faded
And the youngest critic has died
We shall rest, and faith, we shall need it
Lie down for an aeon or two
‘Till the Master of all good workmen
Shall put us to work anew
And those that were good shall be happy
They’ll sit in a golden chair
They’ll splash at a ten league canvas
With brushes of comet’s hair
They’ll find real saints to draw from
Magdalene, Peter, and Paul
They’ll work for an age at a sitting
And never be tired at all.
And only the Master shall praise us.
And only the Master shall blame.
And no one will work for the money.
No one will work for the fame.
But each for the joy of the working,
And each, in his separate star,
Will draw the thing as he sees it.
For the God of things as they are!

words / writing / post-processing
229w / 11min / 10min