This is the first gift I told you about. It's a glorious clump of wild grasses the wind brought into our yard over the summer that is beautiful now and will be beautiful dusted with snow in months to come.
The second gift was from Ellis after he read my post about not having received any get well flowers. He brought me this lovely basket of mums that eventually will join the other mums in our garden, a perennial reminder of our knee project.
And the third gift was found in a book I read, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. I ordered it as soon as I finished reading about it in a post Celeste Bergin published last week. The authors views confirmed my opinion that there is no such thing as a creative block, even though for thirty some odd years I thought I was suffering from one in regards to painting. Turns out I liked working at design better than I liked painting. Now That my design career is past, painting has become a focal point. We work at whatever we like to do that pays off with satisfaction and coin. When that disappears, we reinvent ourselves and work at another skill we kept on the back burner. All that guilt I felt for neglecting that God given gift was for naught; I was just too satisfied by another God given gift. I liked the book. Thanks Celeste.
Hi Linda,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. You might want to add a PS about the "fourth gift"...it would be a nice thank-you note to Ellis for listening to the early draft.
The stories of the three gifts are beautiful, so whatever revisions resulted by bouncing it off Ellis made the post very special.
There! So much for my literary critic comments. :)
The only thing which made me cringe a little (okay...a lot!) was the mention of the clump of grass looking beautiful dusted with SNOW! Brr-r-r.
Have the best afternoon and evening possible and you'll be off that couch in no time.
Sincerely,
Gary
Ellis is definitely a gift. He's taken to women's work like he always knew where the kitchen and laundry room were. I'm amazed.
DeleteI'm looking forward to some snow this year; I'd like to try out my new knee on cross country skis. It may turn out to be a fantasy, but walking in the snow feeling sure-footed should absolutely be doable.
Was just thinking about a similar thing: picking something that you like to do, as a way of sorting out what to do with your life.
ReplyDeleteThe book got me thinking about that a lot. I never wanted to be a painter in my life till now. As a young woman I wanted to go to Pratt School of Design. My mom wouldn't hear of me living in New York in a YWCA. So I applied to U of M School of Architecture and Design. Over the summer, my mom and all my girl friends talked me out of it; teaching was the job for women. I went to LS&A. But did end up in the architectural design field. Painting I always kept for myself. Retired, painting seemed to be the skill to take off the back burner. Mr. Pressfield didn't take into account multi talented people who had a choice to make with regards to vocation. What I liked was that all that guilt I felt from not painting was me being too stupid. I had gone the way I wanted to go from the beginning. Do I love painting? Yes. Do I want to make it a profession? Yes and no. Yes to working at it full time. No to getting involved with the business of art. I like to go to lunch with the girls, travel, study the piano and read little books like this one and American history. In truth, I'm a professional amateur. I'm dedicated, but not a paintaholic.
DeleteWhat a nice post, Linda. I love the clump of wild grass and the thought of snow on them makes me cringe!!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I missed your previous post...the I-pad painting is absolutely amazing!!!! You are definitely the "Modern woman"....I could never do this...very impressive!!!
Yes the thought of snow does make me cringe as well, but I do know that seeing these grasses dusted with the stuff will make me smile. Funny, but I really dislike these wild grasses that people are planting in formalgarden settings. They belong in the wild. The wind placed them where they ought to be.
DeleteThe iPad app drawings are all the energy I have for drawing at this time. The device is serving me well.
(deleted the previous comment because of serious typo!)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the mention, L.W.! Hey! My Dad would want me to mention that it's spelled Bergin ! Glad you liked the book--I really liked what Pressfield had to say about the orientations. (Hierarchical or Territorial). I was (am) just like you--I loved the design world (and I still do). You and I are lucky that way...painters who appreciate design have a leg up!
Ellis is such a good husband.
Great flowers---just how is the recovery going? Will we see one of your awwwwesssooommme charcoal drawings one of these days??:)
sorry about the missing R, I'll get on it. Talk about serious typos! The same thing just happened to the D in my maiden name in our HS magazine; it became a T. Shit happens.
DeleteWhen we're consciously resisting or avoiding working at something, there's the connotation that we think we should be working at it, thus the guilt. What we don't realize is that if we're working hard at some other job which benefits our efforts, we've consciously chose a different path and probably for good reason--regular paycheck with benefits, validation of our skills, the opportunity for advancement and celebrity. I didn't realize I had actually made the right career path till these last four years concentrating on this different facet of my skills. The book brought that to light. Having just decided to major in portraiture with a minor in landscape, how far I wish to, am able to advance with this career change is still to be determined. It's nice to have a future. :-)). THERE! The R is back in Bergin. The magic of digital technology.
Het is altijd fijn als je zelf tot inzichten komt je doet het goed linda hugs Danielle
ReplyDeleteHugs to you too Danielle on your surgery today. My prayers are with you. May your recovery be pain free and fast.
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