Today was a wonderful day in our gallery. We hosted a non-profit play date, and unexpectedly we sold several of my late Father’s hand crafted furniture pieces. There is only one piece left. It was exciting as the patrons who bought the furniture were ecstatic over their purchases and couldn’t wait to get their pieces home. We can see the end of an era heading our way, selling out his furniture, and yet it is indeed a great legacy he has left behind.
I tell that story as it pairs very well with today’s quote:
The true meaning of life is to plant trees
– Nelson Henderson 1943
under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
The greatest compliment an artist can receive is for people to want their work. AND then to have it passed to the next generation, that is incredible. Like planting a tree knowing you will never sit under its branches, and yet your great grandchildren will sit under it while enjoying its fruit. I feel that way about my Father’s furniture. Our daily lives are filled with pieces of his work – tables, cabinets, cutting boards – and he is with us each time we gather. We are indeed the beneficiaries of his art and labor. Every meal we enjoy includes the table he built and finished, giving the gift of his work to help us savor a fulfilling gathering.
Needless to say, today I am thinking about the word legacy. Not only the work I create, or the words I write, more about the people who will see and read long after I am gone. Family, friends, strangers who will see and hear my voice because of this thing called the internet. It takes time, courage, and effort to create, plant, and nurture a creative life. I have been blessed to have taken this journey, to be supported by friends new and old, and those yet to find my work. It isn’t always easy, yet neither is growing a tree. There are droughts, floods, predators and cynics all along the way. Just when something great happens, life can trim your limbs in ways you didn’t think possible. Yet when you keep the long term life of a tree in perspective, all the daily trials will come and go. Eventually there is fruit and people you will never know enjoy it!
What legacy are you building? What fruit will future generations enjoy from your life? Let me remind you this isn’t a one and done thing, it takes decades and determination to grow something then leave it behind. Let me encourage you to find your own tree to plant in your life, not expecting to sit under its shade, you are planting it for people you will never meet.
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