Tuesday, October 23, 2007

perspective



Perspective... it's a word we artists bandy about almost without thinking. Where are you as the viewer in relationship to the image? What changes in your picture when you take a different perspective? What would be the most effective perspective to convey your message? Thoughtful artists can spend hours considering this before they ever set brush to canvas or sledge to rock.

I've been pondering my own perspective on life lately. Having major surgery and taking some time off to recuperate gave me time to simply lay on the sofa and think.
I decided I need to change a few things, make adjustments, tweak my perspective on what really matters.


I decided to celebrate more, to live in the moment in a fuller sense than I've done until now, to savor the scents and tastes of the season. I want to laugh without self consciousness and cry without shame, not to care who sees me at either. I'm turning over a new leaf so to speak, and it feels so good. I'm relishing the joy of being thin again, feeling comfy in my clothes. Turning the electric heat pad on high to warm my tootsies when I climb into bed and savoring the pleasures of a steamy shower.

Perspective can be such a liberating thing, but only when you've got it right. It's great to enjoy the pleasures of life, but I'm also enjoying giving it away with a new fervor.

My husband & I wrote a check that was big enough to really sting the bank account and found that giving really is more fun than getting. I am learning that I do have the gift of being an honest encourager. And it's fun. Everywhere you look there's someone who needs a smile, a gentle word of hope, a whisper that says, "don't give up."

My surgery and recovery gave me time to adjust my perspective and it's been a good thing. Thank God for time away with him to get things straightened up a little bit where the lines had gotten just slightly blurry.