Tag: art

Is Your One & Only Life Worth It?

Is Your One & Only Life Worth It?

I was a bit confused as I watched him walk carefully over the jagged granite rocks exposed by the low tide. When he finally stopped, he took out his camera and he began to capture images of the weathered lighthouse precariously situated above him on the shore.

When he made his way back to where I was standing we stuck up a light conversation about how beautiful the scenery was. At some point I asked about his journey out over the rocks to take some photos and he just smiled. When he showed me a few of the images he shot from that vantage point I started to smile, too. They were stunning, taken from an unconventional angle which added an element of unexpected magnificence. 

“Sometimes all you really need to do is to put yourself in position to succeed.”

There are easier ways to take a photo of a lighthouse. But he wasn’t looking for easy, he was looking to create something far more spectacular.

That’s exactly what he did.

I’ve been thinking about the significance of his words. Not in terms of photography but in life. Of Continue reading “Is Your One & Only Life Worth It?” →

Recoloring Your World Of Possibilities

Recoloring Your World Of Possibilities

“Four gallons of Morning Fog, please.”

Semi-gloss.

After months of searching for the perfect color to repaint the family room, we finally settled on Morning Fog, a gray-ish blue or a blue-ish gray tone for a space which has been the same color for close to a decade and a half. After a full weekend with a brush and a roller, the transformation of the room is now complete.

It looks weird.

I do like it. But after seeing the room one way for some 15 years, any change in color would probably be weird.

Change can feel weird. Even anxious. We’ve seen something the same way for a long period of time and any deviation from that vision takes some getting used to. 

If we are willing to change in the first place.

Many of the most significant personal changes I’ve made in my life first ran into a wall of apprehension. The vision of who I wanted to become deviated greatly from the vision I’ve long had of myself, and that inconsistency was met with fierce inner resistance. Our vision colors our world, defining who we think we are and what we are willing to accept as possible for our lives. A new vision, of seeing myself differently than I’ve habitually seen myself, was needed in order for Continue reading “Recoloring Your World Of Possibilities” →

Why The World Needs You To Be A Three-Year-Old Again

My three-year-old drew this picture for me today at school. She enthusiastically tells me it’s a picture of a “grab hopper”. I have no idea what a grab hopper is.

But it really doesn’t matter.

I love her art. Because it’s art in the truest sense. It’s her innocent untainted expression of what was inside of her, her vision, beautifully showcased on a canvas of 20 pound multipurpose paper with a cheap brown felt-tipped marker.

I’m certain that during the creative process she was never once concerned about what anyone else at her table thought about her drawing. They, too, were far too busy expressing themselves as well, gleefully showing each other their unique masterpieces.

Art. Without the art critics. Just art.

How much of the art that lies within us is never shared with the world simply because we fear it will be harshly measured, judged, evaluated, compared, criticized? How much of what we really are – our voice, our vision, our passion – remains suppressed simply because we’ve empowered the critics and cynics around us? You know, the ones that will lovingly tell you all the reasons why things probably won’t work out anyway?

The best way to silence the critics is to dive in anyway. Then just keep on swimming. At your own pace.

Within each one of us lie unique gifts that only we can offer to the world. A gift that makes the world better. Wouldn’t today be a great day to again start sharing them?

C’mon. How often do you get to act like a three-year-old?

It’s a great day to be you!