Beckoning

 

                                   How long does it take to make a painting? 

This is the question I am asked most often to which there is no straight path to an answer.  

Standing in front of a blank canvas is a beckoning to express...something. Rarely do I know what that is. 

Beginning with unconscious child-like abandon, I pour and scrape, then pause and begin to meander around the surface searching for clues of where to go next. 

Listening and looking,

nonchalantly walking by

then suddenly swiveling,

as if the painting spoke,

and there it will be,

a shape, a line, 

a beckoning

to dive deeper into the surface,

excavating the pentimento

that has been woven within the canvas all along. 

 

What Is Your Story?

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver

 It’s an early Sunday morning in January and the new year is in its 14^th day. The temperature outside is   -8 with a windchill of -35, perfect conditions to enjoy a warm cup of coffee and reflect on what kind of person do I want to be.

With the jolt of caffeine, my mind begins an internal dialogue.

List the qualities and make it your life’s purpose to be guided by them. For instance, when you find yourself responding in a way that is not in keeping with your image, stop, breathe, and adjust.  

Rebel thoughts and behaviors should be encouraged, it’s important to let our thoughts and actions roam free on the Plains of Individuality.

Sit quietly and consider these intuitive thoughts as they become your guideposts, soft slips of clay molding your heart into the person you want to be, no longer pulled by the actions of others, no longer an emotional puppet reacting to circumstances.

Reflect on how you are acting now and dive into change. Here is the fertile soil of your growth. At times it will be painful as you expand and crack your existing shell and metamorphosize into the soloist of this symphony we call life.

When someone hurts you and your immediate response is to defend yourself by striking out in kind, mirror your path of being a loving person, then choose forgiveness and let go. I believe this is what Jesus meant when he said, “turn the other cheek”.  Not becoming a weak victim but staying strong and true to your being.

We are the stories we tell ourselves. It is never too early or too late to ask, What kind of person do I want to be?  Avoid the trap of becoming someone you really don’t want to be just to please. Share your ignorance with glee, so you can learn, then share your knowledge with gratitude, so you can teach.

We only have so many heartbeats. Our purpose is to make every beat count.