I am reading Flow. One of my favorite Dutch Magazines. This month’s topic is the Art of Living.
In Dutch, it’s called “Levenkunst,” in English this would be “Life-Art.” The Germans call it “Lebenkunst.” The German Wikipedia page explains the word dates all the way back to the antique and comes from the Latin “Ars Vivendi”. There is also a “Lebenskünstler“. Someone who is versed in the art of mastering life, always capable of making the best of every situation.
I searched all over for a suitable English translation. Yet there is none. The closest is probably a “bon vivent” but it’s more French than English. The “master of the art of living” is quite a mouth full. Then there is the hedonist: “A person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important thing in life; a pleasure-seeker” but that is cutting it too short. And “a chilled out dude” was also not quite what I was looking for :-)
There is no question, no one asked before. Randalls Zott for instance collected a dozen explanations.
My favorite ones:
A “Lebenskünstler” is someone who manages to make life magical in myriad ways by putting a positive spin on everything and by taking pleasure in little things others might overlook.
Imagine making art, not with paint or clay, but with life itself as your medium. A “life artist,” or “Lebenskünstler” as the Germans would say, is someone who finds beauty in the colors life puts at their disposal, someone who makes do with the brushes they’ve got and doesn’t pout over a few mistaken strokes.
Perhaps the more interesting question is: How do you become a “life artist”?
By embracing life, ourselves and each other?
