On Youtube there is a documentary that claims to show us the real Vincent van Gogh.
That our Romanticized view of Vincent is not the Real Vinvent van Gogh.
I agree.
But the Enfant Terrible Vincent van Gogh is not the real Vincent either.
Because Vincent van Gogh lived his life on a deeper level, far beyond anything that can be described in terms of ordinary reality.
Not searching for distant stars, but searching for the distant stars in the world right under our feet.
Anything described in terms of ordinary reality only describes the surface of Vincent van Gogh.
Want to know the Real Vincent van Gogh?
Look at Starry Night.
That's the Real Vincent van Gogh.
Vincent van Gogh did not have his mind on ordinary reality.
He only paid enough attention to the normal world to survive.
Barely.
The rest of his mind was searching out cosmic thoughts.
He was like me.
He was searching something more out there.
Something beyond the ordinary world.
Thing is, Vincent knew that he did not need to search distant stars to find it.
Vincent knew that all the cosmic reality in the world was right there under his feet.
Sure, Vincent painted the stars.
Because he could see the stars right in his own backyard!
Vincent van Gogh sought the cosmic.
Things far beyond ordinary reality.
But he knew, from very early in his artistic development, even before he left Holland, that these cosmic things could be found right under our feet.
In our own backyard.
We in the 20th Century had to go far beyond the Earth into outer space to learn to dream again.
But the cosmic dream was right under our feet all along.
In our own backyard.
Vincent van Gogh knew this, just as Emily Dickenson knew this.
Vincent did not paint the stars because they were distant.
Vincent painted the stars because he could see them from his own backyard!
The parts of Vincent's life that can be described in terms of ordinary biography are just the barest surface of the man and his life.
You want to know the Real Vincent van Gogh?
Look at Starry Night.
Or any of his masterpieces.
That's the real Vincent van Gogh!
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson