DAILY

GLAD:)

I suggest you visit The New American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, ASAP! First, let me say that what the Met excels in is the creation of such a wide variety of moods and atmospheres in each if its unique exhibits, and atmosphere is something The New American Wing certainly does not lack. Walking into it gave me the impression of the happiest of homes in the late eighteenth-century: This household, in my romantic imagination, would have been bolstered by wealth and driven by hope, as the Revolution was not far off in the future. To be fair, the flip-side of hope and prosperity was also fairly represented in numerous pieces throughout the exhibit, as were themes related to the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, but the grand, colonial aesthetic is what initially caught my eye.

On the whole, as someone who tends to be a cynic and struggles with patriotism, I  found the exhibit to be incredibly uplifting. The bright lighting scheme and crisply-painted walls offered balance and subtle juxtaposition to some of the more serious war scenes, without trivializing them. I also fell in love with the room of canvasses dedicated to the depiction of women; the images ranged from celebration of the mother-child relationship- featuring gentle, pastel palettes- to more provocative, richly-hued female portraits that lacked a demureness more common to nineteenth-century portraiture.

All in all, I found this exhibit to be a place you can wander into and simply enjoy the mood of celebration. America, with all of its demons, has a rich history that can be easily ignored when we have so much present-day drama and excitement to focus on.  This trip through America's storied past offers a brief respite from our daily noise, and an elegant one at that.

SAD:(
People-pleasing is soooo 2011. I've decided, that, after years of letting my people-pleasing refine and develop to the full-bodied, complex, Grand Cru of negative habits that it is, it's time to let it go. I am sad that I had the unfortunate fate of learning to be a people-pleaser at such a young age, but I'm also sad to let it go. It's my insulating blanket that shields me from the harshness of the world, but it's really more of a wet blanket, and I'm ready for something drier, cozier and more fluffy; something that will ultimately serve me better day in and day out. Look out world! My days of people-pleasing are over! I recommend that if you, too, are of the more spineless nature, consider trading out your people-pleasing habit for something more productive, and healthy, immediately!