Abandoned bales in March
I need some outside time and I’m not getting it. The wind has been howling for the last two days. 60km/37mi per hour yesterday and 35km/20mi per hour today. Walking out there is like walking straight against a moving car. I like walking in the wind about as well as I like walking on ice. Which is to say, not at all. So it’s far too easy for me to talk myself out of trying.
But hey, I’m supposed to be a creative person. Is there a way I can let my creativity work for me, finding a way into movement, instead of against me, finding excuses why I can’t go?
Yes and No argue all day. I can’t do that! How can I do that? Not at all! Not even maybe?
In the end, “maybe” wins. I creatively pull on a fleece jacket, a denim jacket and a down vest over the t-shirt and turtleneck I’m already wearing, and add my winter hat and mitts. And I set out, head down. I’ll aim for 20 minutes. I’ll try.
The wind is steady and strong. The road feels uphill, though it isn’t. So I offer myself the grace of going slowly. This isn’t supposed to be get fit or die. This is creativity.
And in the end, creativity wins. It usually does, if you let it. I stop for cows in their pasture, and hills in the distance. And I wander. Imagine how long I’ve been walking this road and never stepped off it. There’s a dirt-bike track through the grass. There’s an ancient truck, with the box and cab permanently separated by rust. There’s an abandoned shack and some hay bales, abandoned more recently. With five layers of clothing and the hat and mitts, even the wind is okay. And with the grace of turning back – wind is always less when you turn back – “maybe” becomes “possible” after all.
I have the hay bales to prove it.
How can you let your creativity create possible for you?
* * *
This blog is a series of posts from one artist’s life. To receive updates, with stories from the artist’s studio and beautiful images, plus a free printable postcard of one of my most recent paintings, just put your email in the box on the right. Your email address will never be shared.
Know someone who’d like to see this? Please pass it on!
