Paint Like a 4th Grader
Paint Like a 4th Grader
I’ve learned more from my students, friends, and daughter, than any of my attempts at introspection have been able to deliver. 2022 has been a year of wonder. I traveled, painted, and taught. I’ve even been caught dozing off to the blissful droning of a bedtime story or two.
“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” – Maori Proverb
My daughter Iris loves to write stories first thing in the morning before I’ve even crawled out of bed. She’s an excellent writer and she’s told me so. Some of the themes in her stories echo books she’s recently read in class and share plots with the stories we read before bed, but all of that is irrelevant. Her choice to write in the morning is enough. It’s the first thing that she wants to do when she wakes up.
Somehow, over the years, I have managed to make the thing that I love most into my profession. The word painting feels light and exciting. The word profession brings with it a different kind of weight. Some days thoughts about painting are as far as my creativity gets. Instead of leaping into my paintings as a story written in the morning, I assign painting to the hum-drum category: JOB
This crazy world is full of people going to work. We all do it. I even know a few people without professions who wake up and go to work. Sometimes only in their heads. But what if we choose to wake up eager to write every morning? Instead of the “what if’s” and “I shoulds”, we can choose “I get to”. “I get to” brings with it a feeling of awe. It comes with discovery. It’s that quiet place that inspiration fills with the sounds of our accomplishments.
Iris has shown me that a shift in my perspective might be just the thing I need. If we are afraid to get started, we’re living in a future that doesn’t exist yet. If thinking about our paintings makes us sad, we’re stuck in the disappointments of our past. This year, let’s paint like fourth graders. Unafraid to learn, unapologetic about our mistakes, and fearlessly in love with what we get to create.