He was a proud man, a good man, a man of unbelievable achievements, a successful international career, a beautiful loving family, he worked hard for everything he had and was enjoying the results of a life truly well lived.
And yet, in his last days, he was sad. He was not worried about dying, he was worried about something much more important.
“I do not feel I am useful any more, it is time”
Indeed it was time, a couple of weeks later he was gone.
We all need to feel needed.
I would say this is the basic fuel of any good man or woman, of anyone who understands what life is all about and what life should be all about.
You want to know the key to happiness? Find the place you are needed most, and do what you need to do, do what you were meant to do, do what you were born to do. we all have that place we look for, that spiritual mental secret place we call home, our real home, not the physical home. Find out where you can do the most, the best, where you can contribute in the most sincere and natural way to the flow of the universe, to the lives of the people around you, to society at large.
When I was young, I thought my calling was teaching, this was a place I could contribute to mankind, but sooner than later found out I lack the patience to be a good teacher, at least to a crowd of spoiled little brats with an attitude and no work ethics and discipline. Yeah, I think you can see why It might not be a good idea to put someone like me in front of fragile little kids, at least no on a regular basis.
Then I thought it might be my music, after all, I create extremely original and elaborate pieces of sonic landscapes with my guitar, and you know, music is important, just look at what it did in the sixties. Ok, sure, the lack of hygiene in that decade was a bit of an offput, I will give you that, but still, summer of love and all.
My music did not change the world, but I never really believed it would.
Then one day, I found out that my artwork, those creative mutations I formed from old photographs I took in the days I was a professional photographer to the stars, mirrored and spliced, decorated with paintings and illustrations added on top, sometimes using actual holy scriptures, often the sacred geometry and symmetrical visual games, I found out that people really like them.
Obviously, I was shocked, as every humble genius like me should be, and pretended to be surprised, “no, really, I did not do anything, I am just a tube through which the creative energy flows, I am just a vessel for the blessings I received… “ you know the schtick.
In reality, there was a much simpler explanation for those sales.
It was for charity.
Very few people bought my art work in the normal days of the year. Yes, there were some collectors who followed the development of new exhibitions and visuals, and would often buy multiple pieces, but it was marginal compared to the charity events.
In a normal pop-up charity exhibition, usually lasting just one evening, a dozen works would sell within the first hour, sometimes the full exhibition sold before the official ending of the event and the final sloppy drunk goodbye hugs.
And that felt great. I means, sure, it would have felt better if it was for my talent, that those picture were sold, and not just because 100% of the sales goes to charity, but hey, if that is the motivation people needed, why not, right?
And yes, unlike a lot of (ahm ahm) charity-esque organizations, in those exhibitions, any satang that came in went directly to the charity, in fact, I always insisted that nothing even passes through me and all buyers pay directly to the foundation.
A lot of years have passed since my last exhibition, we have survived a global crisis that scarred us in ways we still can not fully understand, and most of us have not recovered, at least psychologically.
We lost our basic social inclinations, our community lives that we once enjoyed, we have become more cautious, mentally, with friends, with our finances, we are all suffering from traumatic stress disorder, and the fact we spend too much time online and not with our real acquaintances just makes everything worse.
I know that what I need to do, in order to try and improve things, for me, and hopefully for the people around me, is to go back to that place of being needed, or serving, of having a purpose, of being useful.
I was recently offered, by a dear old friend who happens to be the general manager of one of the most amazing award winning five-star hotels in Pattaya, the Amari hotel, the opportunity to start my come back to the exhibition world in his hotel this year.
For me that would be lovely as I did one of my first full-blown exhibitions in the Amari Bangkok, the Amari Watergate, with a brilliant sixty-piece exhibition. When you find good people, you tend to keep on working with them, I guess.
Now, as an artist, a musician, an author, a poet, well, I got a big pile of artistic professions that sound pretty darn impressive, put together and all, but are not really a base for a solid financial foundation, and as most artists, we survive. We do not complain, but we do not have a lot of extra cash in hand, ok, we sometime complain, but that doesn’t help does it.
In order to do this exhibition in the Amari, I will need funds for the production of the artworks, high quality prints, the mounting, even just transportation to Pattaya etc.
I am sure the hotel will do a brilliant job in organizing the event, the catering, the entertainment, the pr and guestlists, so that part is covered, and could be in better hands.
All sales go 100% to the charity foundation chosen by the Amari hotel, hopefully something small and local, in Pattaya itself, and all sales of the artwork will be paid directly to the foundation account.
My goal, if we want to speak about numbers, is to take the cost of the production of the artwork and quadruple it for the charity. My best exhibition so far raised close to hundred thousand baht in one evening. I know there are charity events for the stars which raise millions every year, but I am just one small person.
Who will help to sponsor the costs of the exhibition? Could be a private person, could be a company, could be a group of companies.
In fact, thinking about it, a group of companies will be ideal, if only for the sense of cooperation and involvement, of community and connection, yes, I think a group of companies will be the best solution for the sponsorship, I would like that. Maybe your company?
Drop me a line if you want to be part of this community.
Thank you,
Boaz Zippor
boaz.zippor@gmail.com
www.boazzippor.net
www.bangkokpost.com/life/arts-and-entertainment/1890765/creative-philanthropy-in-the-days-of-coronavirus
