I vowed this year that I would submit something to every exhibition our local arts organization sponsors. I love the director and I appreciate all she has done for me and other artists, young and old, new and seasoned. She is great. And the Art League needs support.
I thought the latest exhibit, Tiny Things, would be easy. I had a million ideas! Assemblage? Book? Tiny abstract? The world was my oyster!
Well, the instructions stated plainly that the piece had to be no larger than 8″ x 8″, including frame. Easy. But having made several nice tiny abstracts, I struggled with framing. Struggled and then actually failed. I bought two frames that were both too big, thinking somehow that they were within the limitation. Discovered way late that they were not. Submissions were due the following day. I gave up.
The next day came and I hadn’t quite given up. I went out searching, again, for some way to frame them nicely. Nothing. Gave up all over again. Then I remembered I had an older piece of the right size. I put a wire on it and took it downtown. Done! Challenge met! So I’m happy about that.
Challenges and especially, meeting them, are so good for us. They give us new ways to think about what we normally do and new ways of doing. They help us make new connections in our brains. (That’s what I like to think, anyway.) And they’re good for self-esteem. Yes! I met that challenge! What’s next?
When I turned 60, I set myself the challenge of doing sixty new things during the year. Then there was the Poem a Day for 49 Days challenge that turned into more than a year of daily poems. More recently, I did 100 Days of Meditation. All of these have helped me grow. Now I’ve made this pretty tiny vow for 2024. How could I give up so early in the year?
The next exhibit will really test me. Still Life. Aiyiyi! Still Life? Me?? I honestly cannot imagine that I will do well with that. Better start now. But undoubtedly this, too, will stretch me in good ways. Perhaps Still Life will become my new favorite genre of art. Doubtful. But anything is possible!
“Wisdom starts when you know yourself. You will realise that everything aligns itself perfectly when you live your truth, break limiting habits and challenge yourself daily.” ― Itayi Garande
“Don’t live the same day over and over again and call that a life. Life is about evolving mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.” ― Germany Kent
“Challenge yourself. Try to shed an outgrown identity.” ― Sonia Choquette, The Psychic Pathway
If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. If you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. And if someone forwarded this one to you, you can sign up here to receive the letters right in your Inbox. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here.
Thanks for listening,
Kay
P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”
