I am
often told about my paintings, “I wish I saw the world like that.” Well, let’s
talk about that because it’s important! If it weren’t then I wouldn’t be told
that constantly. My paintings somehow make a difference for people. I won’t
pretend I understand. I don’t. The experience of being a creator versus an
observer is diametrically different. But apparently, the way I view the world
is something that others need. And I am all about passing that on. So, if you’ve
wound up here, it’s not by mistake. You are someone, who for whatever reason, needs
to see differently.
STEP ONE:
Do you
REALLY want to see the world the way I do? It’ll take some change on your part;
a shift in perception and a smidgen of practice. That is if you really want to
see what I see. I’m hoping you do because honestly; the world is breathtaking. No,
I’m not talking about that waterfall in the rainforest. I’m talking about the
common, every day world; the people you live near, the things that surround
you. We’re supposed to see the world this way. The result is waking up each
morning with a joy and wonder about what you will see and do that day. It’s the
reason my work calls to you. Why we’ve taught each other otherwise is an utter
mystery (and frankly a real shame) to me.
So how
did I get here? I took 2 drawing classes in college. And it changed my life.
Not because I was drawing or because technical information was being passed on
to me but because my professor taught me how to really SEE. You can’t draw
accurately (which was the goal) unless you can stop your brain long enough so that your eyes can see and then your hand put it down on paper. I call this the process of "new eyes." I admit though,
I took this skill to a different level but we'll get to that part later.
The
process is simple. First, you have to acknowledge the fact that as you are
going along, you’re not really paying attention. Your brain does a quick scan
and fills in a LOT of information. (btw..there’s
a ton of information, studies and tests out there that will prove this to you.)
And it’s all based on past experience. Experiences which then become your
belief system about the world around you. So, in reality, you are seeing what
you (and your brain) want you to see. The problem is, you can’t gain a fresh
perspective when you are dragging along every assumption from the past.
So what
if you changed your gaze slightly? What if you really paid attention? What if
you didn’t allow your brain to just automatically fill in all this information?
What if you looked at every day objects with new eyes that had no previous information
or experience? How would things look differently? What details would you find
that your old eyes would have missed?
I’ll
illustrate. Here are some photos I just took from my yard. Nothing profound
here. You see this kind of scene every day which is why I chose them.
Here’s a
pine tree in my back yard. Your brain is telling you, “Yeah, it’s a tree.
Whoppdie do. Tall, straight, green n brown. Blah blah.” It tells you that
because it’s simplifying everything for you into black and white. (And I mean
that both literally and metaphorically.) But close your eyes, hit the mental
reset button and look CLOSELY. The tree is certainly tall but it’s definitely not
straight. It’s shaped like a “Y.” And there’s beautiful color there! The arrow
on the left points to a section of the tree that is actually a deep shade of magenta.
The arrow on the right points to a section that is purple. Holy crap – it’s not
actually a straight brown tree at all. More importantly, how do you feel about this silly leaning tree now that you can acknowledge it's not brown and boring?
Next is
the dead hydrangea bush in my front yard. Again, your brain will tell you, “brown
and straight.” But again, look closely at all the stalks. What color are they
truly? There’s an awful lot of red and orange in those stalks. Hey, they’re
not actually brown! And look at the sense of movement in the stalks that are leaning
and curving. Your brain skips over all of that and just tells you things it
thinks it already knows.
STEP TWO:
Now here
comes the kicker; the next level. The truth is, I go through every day operating
upon the absolute assumption that I don’t know doodly-squat about jack-diddly. After
all, at one time, I didn’t know the pine tree was magenta and purple. So I
asked myself what other things I could have been seeing inaccurately. It turns out; A LOT!
So, now I don’t just apply the “new eyes” principle to what I’m seeing. I also
apply it to what I’m experiencing. And by doing so, I see the world the way I
paint it; as beautiful, sunny, colorful and soooooo whimsically funny. Isn’t
that preferable to the world you’ve been seeing?
My Welcome to Warwick, MA painting is a perfect example. Those chickens in the road...they're real. They are actual chickens - the Killay's chickens - and they run around on Main Street all the time. They're sassy chickens too. They move for no one. Well except the Fed Ex man which is why there's a truck in my painting. Now there are one of two ways to look at this chicken scenario. One way would be to get completely pissy about not being able to get to the Town Hall in a hurry without being a chicken killer. The second would be to see the absolute humor in these fearless chickens who have the power to stop ordinary men smack dab in the middle of the road AND to acknowledge how freaking funny it is that they only scurry for the Fed Ex man. It's your brain's choice which of those two outlooks it will hold.
So here’s
what I learned to ask myself; what if the world isn’t what you think it is? If
a pine tree isn’t actually straight and brown, then maybe the world isn’t a
shitty place either. Maybe the world isn’t full of assholes that are out to
screw and hurt others? What if it’s actually full of kind and good people, who
have been taught and now operate on the belief that they need to protect
themselves? And what if your brain is filling in information that isn’t really
accurate? What if every time you meet someone, your brain is saying “this is a
human and getting close or being kind to them could wind up with you getting
hurt” and uses each time you do get hurt to say, “see I told you so!” Then you’d
suddenly have a whole belief system around human beings as hurtful. But what
if..just what if…you started to look at others as possibilities instead of
liabilities? What would happen? How would your life change?
For me, it’s
become very easy to reach out to others and connect. I simply do it with no expectation that anything - not even kindness - be returned. And the way my heart feels
when I do (even when it has a negative outcome); wow. I also see a change in others when I interact with them from
this fresh perspective. They blossom! Sometimes I am touched to the core by our
exchange. Other times, I feel so proud that I made a difference. And trust me –
being a positive experience for other human beings really does make a
difference. It gives them hope and a sneaking suspicion that world might not be
a completely sucky place after all. Yeah, I get hurt. Not very often, but it
happens. So what. I’m strong and healthy enough to heal. The blessings of a
whimsical and beautiful world have the power to heal those hurts very quickly. So
try to SEE. Watch what happens. You have little to lose (and I mean that
literally because the belief that the world is a shitty, colorless, cold place is nothing
worth holding onto) and everything to gain.
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