Mother Teresa vs. Martha Stewart
Thanks to Miss B. for the lovely wreath graphic download (see above)
What a contrast in photos: one holding a precious human being and one holding a chicken. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
These are two of my heroes since my early teens, both great women for completely opposite reasons. My husband says I’m a cross between them both, and while flattering, personally I think I only possess a few of their qualities in a much smaller measure. Here is what I love about Martha:
- Ambitious
- Professional
- Does things very well
- Loves beauty
- Creative
And Mother Teresa:
- Selfless
- Pure motives
- Completely committed to her call
- Not about the 100’s, about the 1
- Didn’t care about what the world had to offer
When I took the Clifton Strength’s Finder test a few years ago, my #1 strength was Empathy. What?! That’s what I thought. My top strength is feeling sorry for people? But, no. That’s sympathy. Empathy is by definition:
1. the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.
2. the imaginative ascribing to an object, as a natural object or work of art, feelings or attitudes present in oneself: By means of empathy, a great painting becomes a mirror of the self.
So I’m empathetic and creative. I have to think that this combination of qualities is for something. Somewhere at the intersection of art and heart lies my true passion. That’s why I started A Beautiful Idea last year. We raised over $900 together, with 58 participants. But I want more. The “Martha” side of me wants more. More artists to catch the vision of creating art with a purpose. More money raised to see suffering eased. Will you help me?
If you are an artist, and haven’t joined A Beautiful Idea, please consider it. This year I’m opening it up to any artist – photographers, writers, musicians. Everyone is invited. You also get to decide how much to give. It could be 10% of your profits, maybe 100% of one product.
If you helped last year, and would like to participate again, drop me a line in the comments below.
Thank you for reading this!
How amazing was this post? What a fabulous and creative idea. I love your project concept and the name. Kudo’s to you!
Thank you so much, that means alot to me!
PS Did you recognize the wreath graphic? I got it from your blog! I love it.
i have to say that mother theresa had all of martha’s qualities, as well… Ambitious, Professional, Does things very well, Loves beauty, Creative
if you look at what she accomplished, she surely had to be creative, ambitious, professional, driven. So, I think it’s kind of a myth that to be pure and good, you have to remove all trace of your own self.
You can still help the world, be creative, and also help your self. This was a really interesting post and definitely resonates!
I agree Susy, Teresa did possess all those qualities! Though I think those characteristics looked pretty different on her. For instance, she was ambitious but didn’t display the negative traits of that particular quality. She would have had to be a good businesswoman to operate such a large mission. I definitely don’t think you have to remove who you are to be pure and good, I hope that wasn’t the message from this post. My point is really that I want to be a little bit like both women, with my own personality/calling infused in there somewhere.
PS I’m a BIG SusyJack fan!