Recently, on a random day and at an unremarkable moment, my husband announced that this was the best year of his life! Honestly, it caught both my son and I off guard. Last night, he shared that he had made the same statement in front of his father and his father was also surprised. When we are struck by the profundity of someone else’s words, it’s often because of what it allows us to question about ourselves. So we started to think about what it means to have this year, and every future year, be the best year of our individual lives. And why wouldn’t we want that to be so? Sitting and thinking about this as an opportunity feels both initially improbable and then later profoundly exciting and hopeful! Upon further reflection on this idea I also realized that this year has been the best year of my life too! What does the best year of your life look like for you? And how do you get there now and annually? Is it only a means of changing the words that you use to describe what you already have? Or do you need to take some actionable steps to live a different life?
Christian Marlay brilliantly looks at and sees how different elements and images come together to make a better, more perfect whole. With both humor and grace, he shows us that through relationships of images (and sometimes sounds) we are all connected, and also better through those combinations. In Repetition, a work from 2024, Marclay places images in order to create a circular form, the cycle of life, the perfect year, the best year of my life, and your life, and our life. Looking closely, some of the images depict challenge or even seeming tragedy. Yet we know, the circular journey, as Joseph Campbell identifies it “The Hero’s Journey,” includes those situations as opportunities for learning and self improvement. Marclay reminds that life is the circle of infinity and repetition of the best year of your life is the ultimate manifestation of infinite abundance.
