23 Sep Art Imitates Life?

Yesterday I heard a middle aged woman talking about how much better life was when she was a child. She kept talking about how she admired a certain politician whose platform was all about trying to make America the way it used to be. And I thought to myself, “I wouldn’t vote for him, he’s wasting his time.”

I remember once my mother saying (in a rather relieved tone of voice) to my grandmother, “I may be past forty, but I am still closer to forty than to fifty.” To which my grandmother replied “You are closer to seventy than you are to forty, because one day you might live to be seventy – but you will never be forty again.” That remark nearly landed my grandmother in the East Tupelo Home for the Aged. But what it lacked in sensitivity it made up for in wisdom.

Moving forward – that’s it. My hand at painting, my perceptions, my inspirations, are constantly changing. Trying to recreate a painting you did in the past is a disappointing process. You always have to work in the moment. I believe that is a life lesson as well. Trying to go back is a frustrating, and frankly useless endeavor.

So things used to be great for you in the past – that’s wonderful, cherish that memory, but move on. If you keep spending all your energy trying to recreate that “painting,” you will just be wasting the time that you should be using to make something new… and quite possibly even better than the original.