Building Things Up

When I start most anything that’s in my creative head I always start with the base. If I’m recreating a piece of furniture I start with a base that will support my crazy idea of what it can be. When I start an art piece on paper no matter the medium I start with an idea and a plan. I’ll admit that most of the time the idea or plan I start with isn’t anything close to the end results. That is because as I work the plan revolves into something so much more.

Six years ago when I started my journey I only wanted to get my blood work in order, lower my blood pressure and find away to live a longer healthier life. As I walked through this journey I found that each step lead me to another step and pushed me forward in directions I had never planned. Life isn’t about walking from A to B then to C and so on. It’s about a journey that leads in many different directions. Some of us will be on a high while the others are in a low valley. It’s never gonna be perfect but building on mistakes, wins and lessons moves us forward to that next path to take.

Last week Greg had hernia surgery and I sat in the waiting room with other families. I heard them talk about all the health issues that each of them had and the loved one they were waiting on. I watched them cry, laugh and ponder all the what if’s. Greg’s surgery was in no way on the level as their loved one but I couldn’t help but to think where Greg and I would be today if we hadn’t taken hold of our health. We have both built a new foundation and our future has defiantly taken a new direction.

While waiting on Greg’s surgery I did a little art thing. I make my students do this dot thing every year. They complain about it because it takes so much time. It has never been a lesson about stacking up dots or over laying dots. It’s not about a project that takes up their time. It’s about building one layer at a time until you arrive at your goal of the finished piece of artwork. So many times I hear “you think it’s easy because you aren’t doing it”. So kiddo’s here is my very own dot picture. It didn’t take up my entire life or even a week only a few hours of building on what I wanted.