I love a man who believes in the devil.

I don’t give credence to evil.  I believe there is goodness and lack of goodness.  We create our own realities and so, perhaps unwittingly, we create sadness, doom, mayhem and what have you.  The Universe/God gives you EVERYTHING you ask for without the emotion associated with positive or negative vibes.

That’s the gist of it.  In this way, no outside entity or force is inserting itself into your experience.  You and you alone create the life you have.

The good news is that you can control your life experience by thinking positively, by working to create a sense of goodness via happiness, joy and love.  You can have a beautiful life if you choose to look at the good, that is to say to create rather than face reality.

People who argue for their limitations, who need to revisit shit-storms don’t get this.  People who use the devil as a temptation scapegoat instead of taking responsibility for their actions – well, that seems a fearful way to live.

I accept that I will not be loved unconditionally by this man, because it is apparent our beliefs have divided us, and so, this so-called devil has seemingly wedged itself in the cracks of my relationship after all.

Isn’t that ironic?  You get what you think about – perfectly illustrated.  Imagined evil wins this round (for the sake of this article).  And the moral is that you just can’t take yourself too seriously.  Allow everyone to live their own truth even if it perpetuates pain rather than alleviating it. And don’t judge.  Yes, that’s the trick – to love anyway, even if you don’t always agree…and to trust, trust, trust that goodness will inevitably/eventually prevail.  There are always positive outcomes available to you. ❤

Jerome Witkin has made a career of facing harsh realities via his large-scale figurative paintings.  Art must show our times, without any holding back, showing how we are living in this time – this world .  His quote operates on the assumption that everyone in this time is living crummy lives.  He uses Katrin Naumann, my friend and yogini as a primary model to illustrate the dastardly manifestations of society, which is such an irony in itself.  Katrin is an ethereal soul, an absolutely beautiful human person.

Witkin is proficient in rendering and paint applications.  His compositions are modern visual collages shaped like temples for his angst-infused pulpit.  The devil is in the details, lol.

Jerome Witkin:  This Time, This World is currently on exhibit at ArtRage Gallery (505 Hawley Avenue, Syracuse, New York 13203).  The art reception is tonight from 6-8 pm.  The show runs through January 11, 2020 with an artist talk planned for Wednesday, January 8, 2020 at 7 pm.