Paint a Pretty Picture

Sometimes you’ve got to let everything go - purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything … whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you’ll find that when you’re free, your true creativity, your true self comes out. — Tina Turner

Growing up, i was bombarded with positivity. My dad was a motivational speaker, he was a team builder, and he strongly believed in everything he preached. I had self-help books thrown in my direction on the regular, quotes of optimism springing up constantly, and there was never a shortage of daily reminders of greatness. It was something i took up naturally, and i swallowed it all, practically whole.

Just like having a song for every moment in my life, i have a "Dad said..." for everything in my life. Everything. From finishing my food and running a race, to liking boys and being a mom. Everything. But one thing he said that affects me everyday of my life was his detailed explanation in living my life like a canvas.

[Now, i can't possibly write it or explain it as well as he did... but i'll do my best so bear with me. Besides, it's also a famous quote or something so you can look it up on Google. Of course, i didn't know that at the time, so i just thought my dad was pure genius.]

Your life starts as an empty canvas. It's clean, it's empty, and it's brand new. As you begin to experience life you throw a whole bunch of different colors on there and you start to paint a picture. For everything that you do, you add onto that painting. So you know... try to paint a pretty picture.

He explained it more thoroughly, of course. But the gist was something of the sort. If you wanna analyze it further, i guess you could say that you allow other people to contribute to your painting. However, you choose wisely on who will be adding their finishing touches to your pretty little picture. Will your life's canvas turn into something that you will look at happily and admire? or will it be something dark and confusing and you'd rather turn it against the wall? Nothing can be erased... but it can always be corrected.

It's the perfect analogy for someone like me. I'd say i was about 12 or 13 years old when i had heard this. Ever since then, i tried to fill my canvas with as much color as i possibly could. Sometimes, without even planning out my design, i splashed a mess of color on there with reckless abandon. There were days when that painting started to look a little dark and other times it was so bright and happy that others would get sick just looking at it.

These days, it looks like everything is coming together nicely. The mess i made years ago is complimenting the final design and actually adds a nice touch.

How's your picture coming along?