Tis the season to focus on Gratitude. Gratitude is definitely something to cultivate. Often times, though, it's easy to be grateful for some things and more challenging to be grateful for others. It's more challenging to be grateful for stuff when you are going through a really tough time. It's more challenging to be grateful when you don't know the answers or what to do next. It's more challenging to be grateful when someone you love is really sick. It's more challenging to be grateful when things aren't going your way at all. It's more challenging to be grateful when you are having to work really hard for something and it looks like no fruit will come from all of your toil. A story from my Art School days...I am grateful to have had the joy of studying at a variety of places throughout my Art School days. I got to work with some really amazing artists who were my professors. I learned unique things from each of them that I carry with me each day in my art practice. Some of those lessons were not always easy to learn. One of my professors told me point blank once, "Court, you are not the most talented student I have. You're not even the most gifted in this class. But you are really creative and I can see that you want this, so you are going to have to work." It was a hard thing to hear. It was a true thing to hear. I did want to be an artist so badly, with everything in me, I wanted to make visual art. I didn't want to do anything else! Blargh! How could I want to do something that I am not good at? I took the words to heart and put myself to work. I realized that I had so much to learn and I had to focus and really see differently, train my hands, train my eyes, learn techniques, and study. It's hard to be grateful for a piece of truth that hits |
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