Vincent van Gogh is one of the most renowned and influential painters in the hisory of Western art. And yet he sold only ONE painting whilst he was alive.
Van Gogh used peasants and farmers as models and then flowers, landscapes and himself because he was too poor to pay his subjects. In just over 10 years he produced 2,100 artworks and 860 paintings.
Van Gogh not only battled poverty but also a lifetime of depression and mental illness. At the age of 37 van Gogh is believed to have shot himself in the stomach, dying 2 days later.
Starry Night, arguably his most famous work, was painted in an asylum at Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France. It is believed to be worth well over $100 million not to mention the love, pleasure, joy and inspiration people experience by simply looking at it.
What can you take away from this?
Be careful how you assess your worth, your value and your contribution to the world. Be careful who you decide defines your worth and value.
Sometimes it feels like we don’t matter or your life has no purpose or meaning. The world wouldn’t be a worse off place without you in it. You would be wrong.
You do matter. You do have value. Every day you have the opportunity to make the world a better place.
Simply holding the door open for someone, offering a smile or helping a neighbour with their bin makes their day better. Don’t ever lose sight of how important you are to this world. You don’t need to be a painter to make the world a more beautiful place.