I’m a creative, experienced, multi-purpose artist and art director
who can take projects start to finish in a variety of styles.

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Friday, June 12, 2015

"Vacation"

I went to the grocery store and the girl behind the counter bubbled over with friendliness.  I gave her a look of "I just got off from work and could care less. Get me out of here so I can go home and eat."  She was oblivious.

She's never been on a plane, never been anywhere, but she's going to California!!  Have I ever been?!  Did I like it?  Is it wonderful?!!  I sighed defeat to her friendliness.  I heard all about her plans and watched her half-assed scanning of my food.  I'm pretty sure she scanned some of it 3x in her uncontrolled jubilation.  Talking to the effervescent cashier made me miss a friend in LA and think about getting a plane ticket... ?

I've been thinking of friends a lot lately.  I brooded and kept staring at a 2' x 4' canvas that I've been carrying around the house for about a year.  I'm sure I had a plan for it at one time, but whatever that was is anybody's guess.  I decided to make a friend painting after my friend Korki suggested a zen painting where you just paint lines, and every line is "right" because it's there.

What resulted from her suggestion is clearly a for-me kind of thing that veered from the original suggestion.  I painted names of every friend I could remember -- which looked like a pre-teen autograph book.  I journaled around the edges and over names.  I had awesome insights and wrote over older entries.  I put subtle dots over all of it, covering some people and more entries...I started seeing patterns in my friendships.  zzzzZENnnnnn and growth.

I came to some decisions, or maybe it would be better to say affirmations/intentions.  I want to hang out with fun people.  Kind, caring, interesting, supportive, creative... and avoid people who don't foster those things in me.  I want to focus on good people, and there are a lot more of them than the bad ones.  I started feeling bad memories fade away in the sunlight of good people's influence in my life.

Things I know to be true:  It is always right to love.  I don't have to justify loving anyone to anyone else.  It doesn't even matter if they love me back.  Having an open heart is the most important thing.

I put the most influential "friends" in the row of whitest dots.  Friends is in quotes because they include exes and siblings, but those kinds of relationships are friendships too.  Each of these people taught me a major life lesson(s).  It was hard to limit this list because there are other people who also matter a lot.  If you're on the list, thank you.  If you've been my friend, thank you for that too.

I think I got about 5 years of therapy out of one painting.  The center color is the same as my living room wall.  I wanted this to be a subtle thing I see every day to remind myself what I value.

When the friendly cashier bubbled over at me I had to remind myself that I'm open to friendliness.  New lessons, new optimism, positivity!!  More fun!!!  More exclamation marks!!!  I walked out of the store chuckling and shaking my head over her exuberance, and grew some more.  I'm going to do more of this kind of painting and recommend it to everybody!!!

16 comments:

  1. A brilliant and creative way to encourage inner growth, Linda...thanks for sharing it!

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    1. Thanks Susan! Sometimes some self exploration goes a long way with good results.

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  2. What a creative piece Linda......there is mind, body and soul in there.Keep up with those exclamation marks, I can feel your smile from here.....and I am actually on holiday in Sicily as I type this ;0) xx

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    1. I hope you have a wonderful holiday Jane! I'll look forward to seeing your photos.

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  3. I love this piece, and especially the thought process that led to its creation. Fascinating!
    (PS Thanks for being such a loyal visitor to my blog!)

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  4. Linda! I think this has to be one of the most positive and lovely posts I've ever read. Seriously. It's genuine, your artwork and the path that it took for you to take to it again, and turn it into something so full of hope and joy, well, it seriously is a breath of fresh air. I am so happy that that bubbly girl was gushing full of the happiness of possibilities..and that you received that with such a positive action. Thank YOU for all that you give to me from your blog..I always visit/learn/and ponder after a visit here and i really sincerely appreciate your friendship here in the blogosphere. DO enjoy a trip to LA to see your buddy. I'm hoping to hop on a plane sometime in the future too. Beautiful painting, Linda!!!

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  5. Thank you! I'm so happy when something I've said or done has a positive result for someone else. It makes my day brighter and helps me go out and find more positive experiences to blog about. Life is definitely a circle :)

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  6. What a great vacation story, thanks for the "postcard"!

    " I want to hang out with fun people. Kind, caring, interesting, supportive, creative... and avoid people who don't foster those things in me." - sign me up!

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  7. What an inspiring idea. A real artist statement piece. If you ever hop on a plane to Minneapolis, give me a shout out!

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    1. Thanks! Same goes for if you're ever in Cleveland :)

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  8. Nothing is like good friendship. And a someone behind the counter that can open our eyes - even if unwillingly at first. :-)

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  9. What a great painting Linda!!!!! A canvas full of friendship, the best cure for all negativity.

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  10. I love everything about that painting. It's really interesting and beautiful visually beside being so full of meaning and truth. I haven't been around blogs much lately, but this morning I caught up on your past posts. Lots of good stuff. And I do pray that your brother fully recovers. (Danny is your brother, right?)

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  11. Danny is someone who worked in my office, but kind of a spiritual little brother. He's doing much better. Hopefully the cancer stays in remission for real now.

    Thanks for the comments everybody!

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