My Dad Tužinský is skilled in many ways. One of his skills is basket weaving. In the early days of his basketry hobby, his wicker products were a bit crooked. He was annoyed that they were not perfectly regular. I used to love those! I always preferred handmade products, where you can see some unevenness. To me, they are a form of a work of art.
When things are the same, with nothing special about them, they are just objects of consumption. They are merely pieces of mass production, factory products without emotion. Those cost a few pennies, and we can buy them in ordinary shops. On the other hand, a work of art is a unique piece. It is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. A fruit of the efforts of an artist who has put his soul into his work. Art uplifts us. It makes us think, and it inspires us. We admire works of art in galleries and exhibitions. Not everyone can afford it. Art is precious.

I am not perfect at all. I have my specifics. A few inches shorter, a few pounds bigger, or a few years older, I fall somewhat short of what the ‘beauty meter’ prescribes… What an idea to want to fit into the template of the beltway production of the media! Will I let them dictate what I should look like, what I should be, what the measurements of “real beauty” and “real success” should be, and what is “important”?
I am trying to fully grasp that I don’t need to succumb to that template and lose my freedom. Most of us do not fit the template anyway. That is completely ok because our Creator is an Artist, not a conveyor belt worker. I have to admit, I don’t get it that very often, yet.

But just today I got it right, and it brings me joy. I am unique! I have my particularities! I am different from others. Thus I have something to offer you, my dear ones, and you to me! We can give each other gifts. We don’t have to be afraid of one another or secretly measure each other with beauty meters. I want to measure myself by the yardstick that alone gives me freedom: you are enough, you are loved, you are unique, and you are unrepeatable! You are a gift to others.

I am not a mass-produced object. I am a work of art. So are you.