If You Want A Rainbow, You Must Accept The Rain

Painters.  There are so many painters in my husband’s and my family.  Both of my parents were painters.  98% of the paintings hanging in our house growing up were paintings done by my parents.  Apparently they used to sit across the table from each other painting.  How romantic, right?  Of course this was before they had kids!  I never witnessed my dad paint, but I have seen my mom paint.  She’s great.  My husband’s grandfather was a painter also.  Most of the family has at least one of his paintings hanging somewhere in their house.  Painting has always intrigued me but I’ve never thought I had an artistic bone in my body, so I had never tried it.  Until I did.

A homeschool group I am part of had a Mom’s Night Out a few months back.  Rather than going to one of the Canvas And Cocktails events, one of the mom’s bought the supplies and hosted at her house.  She had several easy paintings that she had done before and we each got to choose which one we wanted to paint.  Then after some wine and snacks we dove right in to painting.  She gave no real instruction unless we asked for it.  There was no step by step process.  Just a fly by the seat of your pants and see if you can recreate this type of thing.  It was AWESOME.  My first painting turned out great, at least in my opinion.  I got so inspired and had so much fun that when the following weekend was Mother’s Day, I asked to get painting supplies as my gift.

The painting supplies sat untouched.  And sat.  And sat.  But then last weekend, I got inspired.  Not just about painting but about life.  There are so many things that I want to do but don’t.  The reasons why I don’t abound, but my husband made a simple observation and it really sunk in.  He’s said things like this before, but this time, these particular words hit me.  He said “It’s much easier to think about doing five things than actually doing one.”  And that sums me up.  I am a dreamer.  I have an insanely long list of things I would like to do with my life or directions I think I might want to take.  I am interested in so many different things that I get overwhelmed at deciding what to do that I just don’t.  I don’t do anything.  I find some new silly television show to watch on tv, preferably one with five or more seasons, and I watch it until it’s done using that as an excuse to not get anything done.  Oh, I’ll start x, y, or z when I’ve finished the series.  I can’t tell you how many times a series has gotten over and the thought of actually diving into doing something that I might be successful at (or I might fail at) scares me so I find some other show to watch.  Well somehow what my husband said got to me.  Made me realize I am sitting on the sidelines of my life.  I won’t know what direction to take my life until I start off in some direction.  Any direction.

So, I came to the realization that I needed to dive in to all those things I’ve been thinking about.  Painting and this blog being two of those things.  This painting kind of defines my newfound motivation.  “If you want a rainbow, you must accept the rain.”  If I want to find out what my life’s purpose is, where I belong, what makes me truly happy and feel like I am contributing something to this world (besides being a mommy), I can’t be afraid of the failure.  I can’t be afraid of the struggles and hard work it will take to get to where I want to be.  I must accept the rain so I can find my rainbow.  But I am not the only one under the umbrella.  My two boys, my husband and my dog are standing under the umbrella with me.  This is true in life also.  Whatever I am doing, I want and need to have them right there with me supporting me.  My life isn’t just about me.  It’s about my family.  It’s about the rainbows we make individually but also the ones we make together.  And lastly, I am the one holding the umbrella because I want to be successful enough in whatever I choose that I can stand on my own two feet.  I want to be the rock that they all know they can lean on for any kind of support they need.  Without further ado, here is my painting:

What about you?  Are you a painter or an artist?  How did you get started on your journey into art?