Art: Creating for the Non-Artist
Word of the month for March:
Art.
Why?
Because I'm not an artist - at least, not a visual one.
Why do it, then?
Three reasons:
It can be fun.
It reaches another part of the brain
Hey, ya never know. Maybe you are a visual artist of sorts.
We all have our "gifts" - you know, the interests and abilities that come to us easily, almost as if the universe is calling us to them.
Eviana Asked me to Draw This
For some of us, we see our purpose in the gifts that seem to have been there from birth. These mysterious talents ("I don't know, I just started playing piano at age three and my parents couldn't keep me away from it") define us almost from the get-go. And well they should, in many cases.
But - what if we've let this definition of "who we are" cage us in too much? What can we gain if we just try some other things, letting go of having to be "good at it"? What if we open the door to another room and just live there for awhile and see what happens?
My word for March is "Art" because I want to see and feel what happens in the room.
I've always loved to doodle, and sometimes draw, but my impatient nature has led me instead to the preforming arts - music, movement, acting, creating, speaking. My "Art" has been, well, me - teamed with the other people I got to play with.
Visual art? Too solitary, I've thought. Too slow. I crave teamwork, collaboration, speed.
But I've been inspired, mostly by my preschool grandchildren. Eviana and Felicity (now just barely 5 and 3 1/2) and I sit together, put on some music, and just create.
Evi likes to add initials of people she loves (G for grammy)
Surprisingly, it relaxes me. The time passes. Sometimes we talk, sometimes not. Sometimes we collaborate. Sometimes we don't. But it's fun - and without these little girls, it isn't something I'd choose to do. (Their brother, Henry, 2 1/2 , not quite as into it yet, but tries for a few moments. He does love color. It's all about the color to choose)
So - ART
we'll see what happens!
Last month my word was "write". Just by focusing on the word in those moments of empty space, I was able to aim myself somewhere. Focus on a word gives you a path, and a temporary reason to choose it. So, if I happened to get up early, I found myself sitting down at the computer at 6 AM with coffee, before breakfast (just like a "real writer"!) - and found the time went by ridiculously fast.
And, though I didn't produce a novel. I did manage to:
Revive this blog (um, you may notice that before 2021 the entries are rather infrequent)
Write 4 new posts for my "Ben Behind His Voices" website.
Set up the Microsoft Surface my husband got me, and format the book version of Happier Made Simple I've been promising to write since 2011.
Seriously. That's true. But I now have 4000 words.
Hey, it's something!
What's your word for March?
