[Today's Anniversary] July 29: Continuing to create "junk." Van Gogh.

Van Gogh's Journey

There was a painter named Vincent van Gogh.

It is said that only one of his paintings was sold during his lifetime (though there are various theories). He was unable to make a living from what he wanted to do until the very end.

While he was alive, he suffered from mental instability and was frequently met with misunderstanding and prejudice from those around him. Except for a very few who understood him, he was recognized by no one.

Even so, he never put down his brush. He continued to paint throughout his entire life.

What we should be looking at

However, just because he suffered from mental anguish, can we really explain away all of his techniques and the staggering amount of training he accumulated?

It is true that he suffered from mental anguish, but one cannot explain his work or his life solely through that. This is the same for many painters. It is the same for many artists.

Today's society says that those who are socially evaluated are the successful ones.

Is that really true? Are we truly capable of fully discerning the value of a work?

The world of expression cannot be fully described by simple narratives such as "it has value because it sold" or "suffering creates masterpieces."

What sells and what remains are intertwined with the cruel element of chance known as luck. In the shadows of history, there must be countless artists who possessed an urgency no less than Van Gogh's, yet disappeared without ever being discovered by anyone.

The logic of the market (whether something sells) and the economy of expression (the urgency to live) are on completely different dimensions. The economy of expression here refers not to evaluation, but to the urgency of needing expression in order to live one's own life.

There are people who spend their whole lives creating things that look like "junk" (meaning, of course, things that are only evaluated as junk), and who cannot stop moving their hands even if no one pays them any mind.

This is not about making products to sell. It is like an impulse welling up from within oneself, something one cannot help but do so that one's own existence does not collapse in the face of the world.

And we are the same.

Not recognized by anyone.
Perhaps not recognized by family.
Perhaps what you are making is thought of as junk.

Even so, you cannot stop.
You simply cannot stop moving your hands.

Conclusion

That is precisely why I think it is okay not to stop your journey. There are countless people in this world who carry that same suffering as you. There have always been countless such people throughout history.

This world is not a place only for the successful.

Is what you have dismissed as "junk" today truly just that?

Today, let's cherish at least one thing that you have been continuing to do without showing anyone.

What is required when we look at works of art, and when we express something ourselves, is not numbers or evaluations, but a deep respect for the human figure who, in an uncertain and absurd world, still tries to continue a dialogue with something on their own two feet.

After all, a person's value cannot be measured solely by public opinion.

How one faces suffering, loneliness, and despair, and yet continues to walk forward—that attitude is deeply personal and cannot be easily measured by others.

No matter how the winds of the world may blow, the steps you yourself have taken are the only things that are irreplaceable and certain.

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