Friday, October 29, 2010
This is going to be the best day of my life
My daughter was married this June and her new husband has a 6 year old daughter. As a result, I am a new Grandmother. She was visiting last night and she was filled with delight. "Tomorrow is going to be the best day of my life!" She was going to get off school and going to the aquarium with her best friend. Wow! Life was good! After she left I thought of how wonderful it must be to have that fresh and joyous approach to life. Then I thought, "What if I did?" So...
I had planned a short trip to the Jack Daniels Distillery with my husband and daughter. I decided to mimic my granddaughter. Throughout the day I kept saying to myself, "This is going to be the best day of my life!" This mantra seemed to refocus my mind and spirit. It rained and it was an outside tour. "The best day of my life!" It was sweltering. "The best day of my life!" I had swollen legs and used a wheel chair. "The best day of my life!" I was concerned that my daughter was having surgery tomorrow. "The best day of my life!" I said something stupid at lunch. "The best day of my life!" And I did have a wonderful day. After all, here I was, with the two people I love most in the world. We're together and it has the possibility to be the best day of my life! But only if I let it.
I want to expect to have the best day of my life every day.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Trying to get a head
This is the latest in my stab at artistic possibilities. I am in a religious sculpture class with other seminarians. We are a mixed bag of old and young, priest and ministers, Americans and students from around the world. But we are complete novices. Some have more innate talent than the rest of us. The artist in residence who is teaching us is very gifted but a little nutty. All round it's a good scene. Totally non-judgemental. ("Judge not lest..."). So, with a leap of faith I grabbed wet clay in my hands and made my first attempt at sculpting. Clay feels so cool and smooth. I'm not thinking that my work is prize winning. The process is the gift. The other side of my brain feels aired out.
If we are created in the image of God then we are called to create. It's quite satisfying.
"Praise be to God for dappled things!"
Saturday, August 28, 2010
We are ALL artists
All of my life I have loved art. I let the beauty wash over me and transcend the moment. I was so envious of those with an artistic gift. I longed to express myself in color and form and texture. Finally, I released the need to be "good". I decided to paint just to delight myself. I took one class in watercolor and enjoyed buying brushes and tubes of paint. And then I started to paint. I like some of my paintings a lot. Some not so much. But I love the process. I love the act. I love expressing myself and releasing my creativity into concrete form. I recognize God as the creator. And I believe we are created in God's image. That includes the call to create. This call is inside ALL of us. Don't be tyrannized by earthly judgements. Get in touch with your divine side. And for heaven's sake, don't wait.
(the painting above was done by me in summer 2010. It is the fifth painting I have done in my life.)
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Watercolors
This semester at Wesley Theological Seminary I took a class in Watercolors. I have never done this before. I love art but was mystified by the artistic muse. I couldn't be any good at it. I was imcompetent at expressing beauty. Age is a gift. I have come to realize art and beauty are relative. Expressing yourself through the arts is a gift to yourself and judgement is misplaced.
This is my first watercolor.
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