Like Feathers In the Wind

You can't unsay what has been said. The following story is one I heard many years ago. I like how it illustrates this truth. The other truth is that you can't un-hear what you are told. I work hard at avoiding gossip. I can control what I do and don't say. The worst for me is hearing something I don't want to hear. It affects how I see someone else and I can't undo what I heard.

There was once a woman who went around her village telling a story about her neighbor. She loved the shock she saw on everyone’s faces and she especially loved all the attention she was getting herself. A few days later, however, her neighbor confronted her and told her the truth about the situation. Now the woman felt terrible and wished she had never said anything at all.

Not knowing how to solve her problem she went to the wise man of the village. She explained what she had done and asked him how she could fix it.

He told her to go home and get her feather pillow. Then, when the evening wind began to blow, she should toss all the feathers into the wind. Then she should return the next day.

The woman went home, cut open her feather pillow, and tossed all the feathers into the evening wind. The next day she returned to the wise man. He told her to take her pillowcase and go out and gather up all the feathers. She went and spent the entire day gathering feathers. At the end of the day her pillowcase was not even half full. She returned to the wise man with her pillowcase and explained to him that she had done her best, but that she simply couldn’t find all the feathers.

The wise man looked at her and said, “And so it is when we tell a story. We cannot know where it has spread and we cannot call it back again.”

Cloud Mountain

See that snow-capped mountain in the background? That's a cloud formation! It is actually sitting out over the ocean.  These crazy cloud mountains are a phenomenon here on the coast that I discovered when I moved here. 

How often do we see what we are used to seeing, or what we are looking for, instead of what is really there? Creating art is really all about creating a perception. Sometimes nature does it for us.

Ocean Lily

I was walking to the beach in Manzanita, OR when I came upon a row of lilies. They are blooming everywhere here on the coast this time of year. But the ocean just made the perfect background and I had to stop in my tracks and take some reference photos. Once the background dried, the lily actually came together in about an hour. Fun, fun fun!

Five Flora

I was challenged to collect and press five flowers. I imagined gathering all of the fabulous colors found everywhere here on the coast in the spring. However, life offered me a different option while we were camping in a ponderosa pine forest. It was in central Oregon in a high altitude, arid region. I was surprised to find a huge lack of flowers. So, instead of picking and pressing any colorful blossoms, I captured the local flora in a different way. These are life-size or larger than the originals.

Getting Steamy

As I think about the steam coming from the engine I am reminded of the cartoons from when I was a child and the angry person would blow steam out their ears just like this train is doing. Yesterday I was blowing steam. 

I read recently that anger is an indicator that we wish we would have done something different. We live in a world where the norm is to blame others for our problems. I work toward taking responsibility for all of my thoughts, feelings, and actions, I had to ask myself what I wish I'd done that led to my anger. Of course it would have been easier to simply blame the person who "made" me angry. But as I took the time to consider my role in the situation I came to realize that what I wish I'd done was to be more honest about my own thoughts and feelings instead of keeping them bottled up.

So next time we feel the steam coming out ears, it's a good reminder to take a deeper look at what we we wish we'd done, and make a course correction so we can keep on tracking with peace.

Banjo

This is a quick gesture drawing I did of Andrew playing his banjo. We were sitting around camp at a mountain man rendezvous. A gesture drawing doesn't give you the luxury of a nice life drawing. It has to be done before the subject moves, and you never know how long that will be. It's a fun exercise and one I need to do more often.

Making Tracks

I don't have a lot of time to work on this painting right now, but I am making tracks. The perspective isn't quite right yet, but they are developing.

I have often thought about the process of making tracks... moving forward and leaving an impression where I've been. Sometimes it's hard to move forward, but one step forward is still forward. And on those days when steps turn into miles it feels so good. 

And if I move forward diligently and with integrity then I don't have to worry about the tracks I leave behind. I don't have to look back and wonder. I can keep moving forward and focus on the present as well as my plans for the future.

Standing Firm

I believe it is important to be kind to and serve others. I know there is much joy to be found when we let go of obsessing over our own petty problems and reach out to others. I have many opportunities to experience this joy and I treasure these moments.

At the same time, one cannot be selfless without a self. There are times when we must practice self-care and take responsibility for our own needs - mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual. There are times when we must stand firm and say, "This time is mine. I need it."

Support

Today I worked on the support beams for the train tracks. I pondered on the importance of having strong support in our lives. There have been times in my life when I had very little support. I felt that no one understood what I was experiencing and I felt very alone, hopeless, and helpless. 

At other times in my life, like now, I've had strong people who understand, love, and care about me. They're willing to listen without judging, help without micromanaging, and allow me to grow at my own pace. 

When our support systems break down we become as vulnerable as this train would be if those beams began to break. Perhaps it would make it to the other side before the tracks collapsed under it. Or perhaps it wouldn't, and all would be lost. And so it is with us. If we don't have strong, supportive, stable people in our lives we can't be sure we'll make it to the other side of our problems. And if we go down, how many others will go down with us?

Blue

I know that water is blue because it reflects the blue from the sky. But today I have driven past bays, ponds, lakes, estuaries, and the ocean. The water in each is twice as blue as normal and 10 times bluer than the sky. Where is this color coming from? 

One of the many things I love about living on the coast is how every venture to the beach brings something new. I know that in every environment things are in a constant sate of change. But I can go back to the same spot on the mount and find the same tree, the same rock, the same log and the same bush. Not so on the beach. When I most count on returning to find a treasure, that treasure will surely be gone. The sandscapes change. The animal life comes and goes. Objects get washed up and then was he away again. It is never truer than at the beach that the only constant is change. 

By the way... how does one sketch different shades of blue?

This drawing has nothing to do with blue... it's just a very quick sketch of a pub at the beach... 

The Little Engine That Could

I was able to find some good resources and get the cars done. It was a fun day of things coming together. It was interesting that while I struggled physically to feel energy or the physical drive to paint, I was able to get myself to the canvas and then things just took off. 

One of the things I love about teaching is that I see this happen time and again with my students. It is validating to me that this is a human phenomenon and not just me. It also gives me the insight to reassure and support my students when they have days that they, as Nancy likes to say, "aren't feeling the love." 

I think it is often the case when we are struggling with any task initiation, that if we can simply get ourselves to the "canvas" an inner drive takes over and we kick into gear and do what needs to be done. Sometimes it's just a matter of getting ourselves in the right place at the right time. After that, it's just a matter of repeating, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

Dead Men's Bones

I've heard it said that all living things are meant to fulfill the measure of their creation. I've been thoroughly enjoying the Purple Sails that have been washing up along the shore. Today I came across what at first liked like dried up rose petals strewn along the beach. I thought perhaps there had been a wedding. I quickly realized, however, that they were dried up Purple Sails. Last year they were all clear. This year they have a maroon tint to them. 

I pondered on the waste of life, realizing once again, that they have no choice. They work together to create a symbiotic relationship and creature but cannot control where they go. They literally go where they wind blows them. Then I thought of someone I know and how they have chosen to allow an illness to be the wind and let it blow them where it will. They aren't going to fight, or care, or even try. That surely is a wasted life.