I am No Bird; and No Net Ensnares Me

Annabella Pizzi

One of the most important pillars in the childhood of any true Italian-American is learning to play gin rummy. My sisters and I were no exception. After dinner our father sat at the kitchen table with a deck of cards, and in our feetie pajamas, the Pizzi girls learned to play a mean hand. While there are many tricks to the game, our dad put the most emphasis on one that his mother told him: always keep your options open. This piece of advice is certainly true when playing cards, but also in life. In the words of Charlotte Brontë, through her character Jane Eyre, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me” (Brontë). I never want to limit myself socially, emotionally, or academically. The world is far too big and far too full of opportunity to impose barriers on myself. Over the year long Conversatio course, I have developed a list of values by which I choose to live. My ideas are both supported and challenged by The Rule by St. Benedict, Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper, and The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich. In life I find meaning in the observation of others, the pursuit of education, and artistic expression, and with a combination of all three I have created a good life for myself. 

I have learned important skills, such as painting, writing, and conversing, from the observation of more experienced individuals, and have developed my own unique styles of execution. In Chapter Six, “Restraint of Speech,” in his book of instruction entitled, The Rule, St. Benedict writes, “Speaking and teaching are the master’s tasks; the disciple is to be silent and listen” (St. Benedict). Though The Rule was written for the newfound order of Benedictine monks around 500 AD, I have chosen to interpret St. Benedict’s work in terms of my own life, opposed to the instruction guide it was initially intended to be. I agree with St. Benedict’s views on instruction in Chapter Six. The student is to observe the master, and subsequently imitate the master’s work in hopes of achieving improvement through practice. The student should respect the skills of the master, and the master themself, for the master has dedicated their life to the learning and teaching of their passion. It is out of ignorance and arrogance that a student would dare to believe they are more knowledgeable than the teacher. St. Benedict then heeds the words of an anonymous prophet in the Bible when paraphrasing that there “are times when good words are to be left unsaid out of esteem for silence” (St. Benedict). Here is where I disagree with St. Benedict. While silence is beneficial, and on many occasions I have been able to find peace in its midst, I am also of the opinion that “good words” should never be left unspoken. In my opinion, “good words” can be words not only of praise and compliment, but also of defense and truth. Communication with others, using one’s voice, and the assertive expression of one’s thoughts and feelings is paramount when developing any relationship or skill, especially as a young woman in a male-dominated world.

In his work, Leisure: The Basis of Culture, Pieper argues that an education based on the pursuit of knowledge is invaluable to a culture and the individual. I concur with Pieper when he expresses that “whoever is educated knows how the world as a whole behaves” (Pieper). Pieper argues that the post WWII society of his time was too focused on human activity producing the tangible, and was losing sight of the importance of the internal growth of the individual citizen. Like Pieper’s post-war world, the twenty-first century also heavily emphasizes the servile, rather than the liberal arts. Any society needs to promote the progress of the individual, for through the betterment of the citizen, society as a whole improves. Education and the pursuit of knowledge is one of the methods of the liberal arts I cherish the most; it is the gateway to the understanding of the human condition. Without education one cannot fully understand the world and its citizens. Here I am reminded of my AP Psychology class in senior year of high school. After a full year of instruction, I gained new insight into the human psyche, and the way in which people interact with each other and their surroundings.

After Conversatio, I have been able to contemplate and then apply the information I learned to real situations. This new knowledge of human nature has had a beneficial impact on my mental health. Instead of immediately turning to anger or sadness when another person upsets me, I am able to calmly use what I learned to analyze the words and actions of others, and know that their choices are a reflection of them, not myself. Pieper elaborates on this when writing that “education concerns the whole human being” (Pieper). The mind, body, and soul must be dedicated to reaching deeper understandings about the world to live a knowledgeable and good life. All three are interconnected, and must work together to create a well informed person.

Lastly, I find value in artistic expression. On the nature of expression, Austrian art historian E.H. Gombrich writes, “some people like an expression which they can easily understand” (Gombrich). This quotation from Gombrich’s book, The Story of Art, highlights the way in which others—not the artist—are affected by a piece. I agree with Gombrich when he writes that everyone’s own personal experiences affect the way in which they interpret a piece of art. Like the viewer, the artist’s experiences influence the way that the art is made. I use art to express what I am feeling, whether that expresses anger through violent brush strokes and harshly contrasting colors, or joy through the use of a warm pastel palette and soft watercolor. In his elaboration of the understanding of the arts, Gombrich writes that some enjoy “works of art whose expression is less obvious” (Gombrich). The dissection of the meaning behind a piece of art can sometimes be difficult. Often emotion in art is created through color choice and material without a concrete subject. The purpose of visual art is to convey emotion and gain insight into the mind of the artist. For this reason, I believe the presentation of one’s art to be an intimate event, and a vulnerable and profound experience for the artist. As an artist myself, I have created many works of art. My favorite piece to create was entitled “The Hills are Alive.” Instead of using a traditional canvas, I opted for a bamboo hand fan, originally used in China, before spreading to the rest of the world with the rise of globalization. On the fan I used gouache, a thick water based paint, to paint a scene from my favorite childhood book, Tikki Tikki Tembo. Though the piece may seem strange and unconventional to an outside viewer, I wanted to bring life to the warm summer nights as a child when my parents read me stories before bed. This piece is meant to reflect the way in which Blair Lent’s illustrations transported me to a world of exquisite fantasy in the hills of China.

I find value in observation, education, and artistic expression. St. Benedict’s The Rule, Josef Pieper’s Leisure: The Basis of Culture, and E.H. Gombrich’s The Story of Art, have aided me in my journey to the creation of the good life, on my terms. The balance of ideas with which I concur and diverge in all three readings allowed for the further development and deeper understanding of my own views of the world, and the way I choose to live. Observation is as much an active as it is passive activity, education and contemplation foster growth and understanding, and the purpose for the creation of art can only be for the expression of the artist, not the satisfaction of others. Conversatio is defined as a way of life, but that is where the definition begins and ends. It is up to the individual to decide for themselves what they include and exclude from their own pursuit of the“good life.” For the perpetuation of a good life, the individual must create a strong sense of internal stability before successfully contributing to a larger community. I once read that instead of society being a melting pot of diverse peoples, it is more accurately described as a mosaic. Like the individual person, each piece of stone possesses its own unique set of characteristics, and, with these values that only it can provide, makes the mosaic infinitely more beautiful.

Pizzi, Bamboo mosaic

Annabella Pizzi, still life painting

Works Cited 

Brontë Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Oxford University Press, 2016. 

Gombrich, E. H. The Story of Art. Phaidon Press, 2021. 

Pieper, Josef. Leisure: The Basis of Culture. St. Augustine's Press, 1998. 

St. Benedict. The Rule of St. Benedict. Liturgical, 2018.