I was so tired I couldn’t think.
That’s why my writing isn’t constant at the moment.
The last two weeks have been difficult. I’m still ill and I hope the coming week will be kind to me. During those moments when time seemed so long, I lost myself on some videos.
I’ve long had a fascination for painting and have watched a lot of content about it. And when I’m passionate about something, I talk about it a lot.
Sometimes that’s a mistake because your passion is often your own. Far from being shared by everyone around you.
Someone close to me gently teased me:
“And now you want to become a painter!”
I stupidly wanted to smile and say: “Forget it.”
But I couldn’t resist answering: “And why not?”
It’s one of my faults, fighting battles I know are pointless.
I thought that if I had become a writer, there was nothing to stop me from becoming a painter. Even writing started in my bedroom, as a sort of joke. Nobody believed in it but me.
And yet today, I have texts that have been read tens of thousands of times. I earn money doing it and it’s become part of my life.
His response was immediate:
“But:
1- You’re bad
2- There are no artists in our family”.
It was my turn to tease:
“True… But…
1- I can work hard
2- The first painter was indeed the first in his family.”
The discussion stopped there. The dispute was philosophical. For him, it’s impossible to get out of your cage and your world. For me, the world is our playground.
These are two fundamentally different conceptions of life and nothing could make us agree.
What I want to share with you are these words: “And why not?”
I don’t want to tell you that one of the conceptions is the right one or not because life is too complex. But if you want to explore the “And why not?”, your heart knows best.
Throughout our lives, identities come and go. Our aspirations change and our ambitions evolve. Life’s too short to stay stuck in an identity that no longer pleases us forever.
Life is an exploration of identities in the hope of finding out who we want to be. And sometimes, you never know until you try.
We inherit identities at birth, built up by those around us, and it’s rare that we can really try out what we like and what suits us.
No, for the moment, I don’t want to become a painter. I still have a few tens of thousands of texts to compose. And, I hope, a few dozen novels to share with you. But one day, if I manage to be financially independent, I’ll explore only what makes me feel alive.
I’m a writer today.
And why not a painter tomorrow?
The conversation wasn’t exactly this one, I say this because I don’t like lying or embellishing the truth. I’ve shortened the argument and twisted a few sentences because I can’t share everything. I wanted to focus on the message.
Love this, Viam! “Why not?” is what I always wondered about pursuing a creative path. And now I am finally giving myself the permission to do it, no matter what anyone says. But I am picky now, with who I share it with, personally. At least while I try to gain my footing.
I also love painting as well! I used to love oil painting, but it gives me terrible migraines, so I do watercolor and digital painting on the iPad & Surface Book. Digital is great because there’s no clean up and you can always draw/paint in as little as 5 minutes. And it’s amazing how realistic the software is now. Some programs have brushes that mimic the texture and flow of real paint!
I’m planning to introduce art activities with downloadable print-outs to accompany my free Newsletter soon, as a way to foster creativity, self-care, and meditation for my Subscribers.
There will be free-flowing exercises to draw/paint based on a theme/subject, as well as downloadable coloring pages so we can just let go and see what color choices we each make as a community.
I don't see why people should not explore all avenues that interests them. I, too, have a lot of interests and am not bothered one bit if people comment about it.
'Jack of all trades, master of none' , they say. To which I retort, "Never have I said I wanted to be a master, but being jack sure sounds fun"