Following is an article by Antonio Mercurio that originally appeared in the book Dieci Volte in Volo (Ten Times Flying) published by the Associazione Culturale Microcosmo (Microcosmos Cultural Association).
Based in Prato, Italy, it also promotes Existential Personalistic and Cosmoartistic Anthropology, developed by Antonio Mercurio e collaborators at the Sophia University of Rome. A special thank you goes to the Association’s founders for permission to reprint this wonderful summary of Antonio’s ideas about Life as a Work of Art here on my website.
You will notice towards the end of the article that Antonio mentions some movies, which help exemplify concepts such as the I Person and the Self. Antonio developed these concepts to delve more deeply into how he saw the complex reality of human beings. These ideas are very useful in helping us become aware of the various aspects we are made up of – the psychological/emotional, the physical, the spiritual and the transcendental – so we can more intentionally learn how to harmonize them into a uniquely creative and functioning whole.
The ultimate goal in Existential Personalistic and Cosmoartistic Anthropology is to learn how to first love ourselves in such a way that we can transform our wounds and our reactive natures and become the people we are meant to be, in service to our own wellbeing, to others, and to life in general. As we learn to love ourselves deeply and fully, we can become more adept at loving others in healthy ways, and receiving love from them.
In this view of life, our deepest meaning comes not from striving to become perfect, rich, or powerful, but from the development of the ability to love, which is in itself a form of existential beauty … and which can set off positive chain reactions of increasing love and beauty, both within us and outside of ourselves, in our interactions with other people and with life itself.
The energy of love and the creation of existential beauty brings a deep sense of wellbeing, purpose, and creative agency. We learn how to interact with life in new ways, and as we do so, we contribute to the greater processes of evolution that we are a part of.
I have been on this path for 35 years now, and I must say, despite having explored all kinds of psychological, spiritual and creative avenues, I always come back to Antonio’s ideas as foundational. They offer a new way of looking at life that has given me a kind of inner strength and clarity, as well as an ever-growing sense of what Love really is – and how wonderfully nurturing it is, and how available it is to all of us – that I have received from no other single direction.
I hope you can find some insights and inspiration, as well, and can benefit from this beautiful work of art that Antonio left behind, and that many of us, all over the world, have been accessing to cultivate our own unique Works of Art … while passing it on to others.
HOW DOES ONE BECOME AN ARTIST OF LIFE?
By Antonio Mercurio
Every human being is born with an “I” that acts as the personal subject of their story and of humanity’s story.
The “I,” according to Existential Personalistic Anthropology, is a field of energy composed of at least four different types of energy: physical, psychic, transcendental, spiritual, and creative.
Transcendental energy comes from the Personal SELF and the Cosmic SELF that dwell within humans.
Spiritual energy stems from the personal “I” and enables the “I” to make choices and decisions. These decisions transform the “I” and create new identities for the “I,” which can be either positive or negative: decisions of love and hatred, of freedom and slavery, of truth and falsehood. They can lead to creativity or inertia, victimization or artistry and transformation.
Psychological energy is primarily intellectual energy, both rational and irrational.
Physical energy is vital energy, and when fused with psychological energy, it becomes pulsional and passionate energy: libido and destrudo, eros and thanatos.
By “spiritual,” I refer to that intrinsic energy within the “I” that allows it to move from one stage of being to another without being driven by external causes. It permits the “I” to make a complete flip without external help, to transcend itself, and to become something entirely different from what it was before—all without any external energy input. Spiritual energy is always founded on freedom and can be directed toward both good and evil.
By contrast, I call material those processes which always require an external agent to move from one stage or form to another. This typically happens according to deterministic laws.
The energies inherent in the “I” from birth are not quantitatively or qualitatively uniform. According to the phases of the “I’s” growth, one type of energy may dominate over others, creating imbalances and internal conflicts within the “I.” Additionally, these energies can vary due to natural laws, which may grant more to some individuals and less to others.
The first goal of the “I” in becoming an artist of its life is achieved when the “I” fully emerges from the Id (Freud), so that it is the “I,” and not the Id, that governs life.
The second goal is attained when the “I” completely breaks away from symbiosis with the womb, the mother, and the infantile world, so that it is the “I” and not the mother or the fetal “I” that commands an individual’s life.
The third goal is realized when the “I” learns to harmonize its energies, and achieves balance among them.
The fourth goal is the “Artistic I’s” ability to synthesize similarities and opposites within its life and external environment, thereby achieving a higher form of beauty— “secondary beauty.”
Through millennia of evolution, the physical “I” has mastered the synthesis of similarities and opposites, serving as a valuable reference for the Artistic “I.”
For example, the physical “I” created a synthesis of similarities by harmonizing the right and left eyes, ears, arms, and hands through continuous learning and practice passed down generations.
The synthesis of opposites occurred when the physical “I” enabled the meeting and fusion of sperm and egg, creating a new entity.
In the few years granted to its human existence, the “I” must learn to create many syntheses of similarities and opposites to become an artist of life.
The “I” is multifaceted, with many different aspects. As it discovers these facets, it decides to accept some and reject others, leading to internal divisions and mutilations.
The “I” unifies itself and creates harmony among all its facets. This is a synthesis of both similarities and opposites.
Unification and synthesis occur when the “I” contemplates each facet, or after reviewing them all, decides to accept them with love as integral parts of itself. What is accepted with love can then be transformed according to the laws of Life.
Transforming a dark cloud into a star involves synthesizing similarities: two atoms of the same chemical element fuse and transform into a new element. Similarly, transforming our dark sides into luminous parts also involves synthesizing similarities.
The most important synthesis is between the “I” and the SELF, as well as between the masculine and feminine principles. This dual synthesis of opposites is crucial. In other writings, I have discussed other important syntheses of opposites.
To achieve the synthesis of opposites, both the “I” and the opposing parts must be put into a crucible. Pain is a powerful furnace for this process, much like the sun is an excellent furnace for atoms.
The “I” must also learn the dialectical process, which is based on the principle that everything must first be affirmed and not denied, and only then transcended into a higher form of existence.
Life and death are two opposites. To synthesize them, one must explore both. Here again, the importance of pain emerges, allowing humans to experience death while still alive.
When pain arises from life’s events, the “I” faces a dilemma: to harden itself and retreat into the old victim identity or embrace the pain, experience the death of the “I,” and create a new identity—the “artist mode.”
The victim can only transform into a perpetrator and nothing else. The artist, however, can create an infinite number of new identities for the “I,” each richer than the last because they result from continuous syntheses of opposites.
In the introduction to the film Meet Joe Black (see The Choral Laboratories of Cosmo-Art, S.U.R.), I wrote:
“With pain, death enters my life—not to extinguish life but to create a new, higher form of life than I had before. If I believe that, I create; if I don’t, pain is merely a disaster, and I remain the same—or worse.”
The secret lies in firmly believing that pain serves to create and that, once death is crossed, the creation of a new identity emerges—one previously unknown.
In Summary:
- Where the Id once ruled, the “I” must now reign.
- Where the “I” once ruled, the SELF fused with the “I” must reign.
- Where once there was a victim and/or a perpetrator, there must now be the “Artistic I” of one’s life and the universe.
This is the journey of Rose in the movie Titanic:
Before meeting Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio), Rose is entirely Id.
When Rose meets Jack, the true “I,” hidden beneath the false one, emerges. This is evident in Rose’s dance in third class.
When Rose fuses with Jack—symbolized by the prow flight scene and the love scene in the ship’s hold—the “I” fuses with the SELF.
When the iceberg strikes and the ship sinks, the womb, and Rose’s old identity, sink as well. No longer a victim of her mother or fiancé Cal, Rose becomes the artist of her life, possessing the “Heart of the Ocean” diamond without realizing it.
Rose transforms into an Artist of Life—her own and the universe’s. Her life is dedicated not only to self-transformation but also to transforming others.
After Rose’s story, the film crew, despite its vast resources devoted to finding the diamond, is profoundly changed. Touched by the second beauty Rose created, they no longer desire the diamond, which sinks into the ocean’s depths. With the creation of the second beauty, the first beauty is no longer necessary.
Now Rose, in her transformed state, is ready to travel from one universe to another.
How do we weave our own existential beauty?
By synthesizing similarities and opposites, within and outside ourselves. This is a lifelong endeavor.
It begins with the meeting of the “I” with the SELF and ends with the fusion of the “I” with the SELF, the “I” with the “You,” and the “I” with the “We.” (See Odysseus, Kirikou, Rose).
How does one become an artist of the life of the universe?
By transforming the lives of others.
Others, even more than stars, are the universe.
Every other carries two opposites: the dignity of self, which will never accept external impositions, and the will to dominate, which seeks to impose itself on others.
The first rule for transforming others is to abandon any pretension of doing so.
The second is to renounce entirely the will to dominate others.
Gandhi never sought to impose transformation on the British. Instead, he dedicated forty years to creating the art that would inspire transformation. He respected their dignity, aiming for them to leave India as friends, not enemies.
The third rule is to focus on life as a gift, not as theft—even when one’s rights are trampled.
The fourth rule is to authentically serve those you wish to transform.
This is what Gandhi did with the British during both world wars, what Odysseus did with Circe and Calypso, and what Kirikou did with the sorceress Karaba and the men and women of his village.