An Idea for a Painting.29.5 cm x 21 cm, blue biro on grey paper.
Main theme: Recording ideas.
Date produced: 1986 - 1987.

Written in May 2025:

Since Marianne’s (my wife’s) death in May 2024, I have been wondering honestly whether she had a “good life”, a “worthwhile life”, a “meaningful life”? It has made me wonder whether anybody or any living organism has a “good life”? What does it mean to have a “good life”?

Well, one aspect of having a “meaningful life” would be to successfully reproduce, so that there is a continuation of the same species of life, with similar DNA to the sets of DNA of the parents. By choice, Marianne and I did not have any children, so we have both missed out on having a meaningful life in this sense. We both knew that we sat at the end of a very long line of life, that went all the way back to the beginning of all life on this planet (probably almost 4 billion years ago).

Are there any other possible aspects to having a “meaningful life” or a “good life”?

Well, other aspects of having a meaningful life may be to understand the nature of life itself, as well as the nature of our lives (as humans living within large societies) and the nature of the world we live in. Also important may be to understand our place amongst all the other life on this planet.

Marianne had a good understanding of life, and the nature of life. She grew up as a Catholic in The Netherlands, but had realised that those beliefs were false in her late adolescence. She later realised that she could be comfortably labelled as being an Atheist – she, like me, knew that there is no ‘god’, as typically understood.

I have come to feel that you have a good life, while you are living, and doing things that give you “genuine deep appreciation”; appreciation of any of our senses, such as taste, smell, sounds, sights, touches, thoughts, etc., or appreciation of concepts in your mind, such as a sense of justice, of being intelligent in comparison to other people, of having a good understanding of things happening around you, of being successful in terms of running a business, of having an appreciation of what you are in being an intelligent animal that is part of a huge network of all life on this planet, with the ability to communicate with others, an appreciation of the nature of life, etc.

So it may be appreciating some ‘simple’ types of things such as appreciating some rare foods, or appreciating some common food that tastes especially nice, or appreciating some foods that have combinations of tastes that are inspiring, or just appreciating having some foods that are known to be good for our health, etc.

It may be appreciating the sounds of birds, or appreciating the sounds of being in particular environments.

It may be appreciating some live human produced ‘music’, appreciating particular combinations of sounds, appreciating achievements made by others in producing music that moves us, appreciation of your own musical abilities with tapping, singing or whistling, appreciation of the sounds and feeling of being part of a good choir, singing a particular song in just the right way at a particular time, etc.

It may be appreciating the things being read in books, magazines and newspapers, from libraries, schools, newsagents’ shops. Marianne was a keen reader (and in several languages). In later years, she preferred reading non-fiction work, but she had read and appreciated a wealth of fiction and poetry in her childhood and early adult years.

It may be appreciating the messages being communicated in some TV programs. Marianne was able to appreciate ‘meaningful TV’ programs from ‘popular TV’ programs.

Marianne was able to look at sport in Australian society and realise that it was just not as important as it was being made out to be. It was largely a distraction from looking at more important societal things. She could appreciate that it may have helped the overall physical health of the people undertaking the sport, but also saw that needed to be balanced against the higher risks of physical and mental injuries.

It may be in appreciating the humour in various situations. Marianne had a very good sense of humour, and she wasn’t above being able to laugh at herself.

There are so many facets of living that Marianne had very good understanding and genuine deep appreciation of. One way of looking at all of those types of facets, is to consider where they may sit in “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”. I am aware that Marianne herself liked the ideas behind “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”, and she kept a copy of the classic illustration of “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” on her pin-up board in her study, at home. She appreciated the ideas being presented, and also felt that she had reached the very top levels that were described in the schema. She knew that this hierarchy was a simplified structure, but she thought that the thinking behind the levels etc. was extremely useful. I also agree with Marianne that she had met all of the levels described, and that she had attained self-actualisation.

When I look at all of these aspects of life, I know that Marianne did have a very good life. It seems such a loss to think about how much internal knowledge, understanding, and sense of appreciation is lost when someone like Marianne dies.

Night Sky Concept. 29.5 cm x 21 cm, blue biro on white bond paper.
Main theme: Expression of a concept.
Date produced: 1988 - 1992.