Pat Aube Gray
Jul 20, 2017 · 4 min read

NEW BEGINNINGS

Morning Walk, Oil on Canvas, Pat Aube Gray, Artist

I have begun anew so many times that I have great difficulty honing in on one particular “beginning” to write about. Quite a number of my beginnings have ended, some happily, some very sadly. All of my beginnings have had middles and I am still experiencing quite a few of them. Lately, however, I do have some new beginnings that truly are just beginning so I will begin with them.

Forgive me. I actually have to begin with an ending. At the end of last year I left my position at the law firm. I have called it retirement, but that is actually not true. All that ending meant is that I no longer have to report to someone else’s place of business Monday through Friday. I am no longer actively involved in the business of business. Now I can be involved in whatever activity or lack of activity I choose to be or not be involved in. Those who know me are certain that I will be involved in at least one thing, but more likely at least several.

One of the first things I decided to begin was to make up the Humanities class from which I withdrew oh so many years ago, which prevented me from getting my degree. I walked in the ceremony, “graduated” with high honors, but not as high as if I had not withdrawn from that dumb class. I called the Michigan University and learned I could certainly get my degree with an online class, but due to curriculum changes, I would have to take two additional courses! A scam perhaps, but I completed one and am currently enrolled in the remaining two. A new beginning of an old beginning that will hopefully soon have a successful ending.

One of my endings that will now become a new beginning occurred in 2010. The then most recent recession had seriously affected my art gallery and framing business and put an end at that time to it and my teaching of painting and drawing classes. That’s when the new beginning of the business of business began, in mortgages and law, the same business ending that came at the end of last year. Once an artist always an artist, of course, so I am beginning to teach my first new painting class on March 13th. A few students are interested in private classes, one in portraiture, so they will be beginning with me soon. Since I am just beginning to get my new home studio in order, I am not beginning the private classes until the reorganization has ended.

I am beginning a relationship with my new puppy, Libby, now only five months old. For both our sakes I am beginning a ritual of walking her in the dog park a few times a week. She is a wonderful black golden-doodle but at times gets very rambunctious. I hope these walks will be the beginning of the end of the excess energy that causes her to grab my hands, ankles, and clothing in an effort to get me to play the same game. While she doesn’t bite, actually, her needle-sharp teeth catch and draw blood and put holes in the legs and sleeves of my clothes. I am beginning to look like an impoverished cutter. I am hoping that comes to an end.

I have always loved to write and have done more than my fair share of business writing and some creative writing, with a few published articles under my belt. I have the beginning of a novel written, including the first three chapters and its synopsis. The synopsis actually includes a beginning, a middle, and an ending, much to my surprise. Unfortunately, that beginning has not yet come to an end. Perhaps that is one of the beginnings I will bring to an end in this new beginning.

To begin writing, I wrote a 17 page paper for my marketing course, the one that just ended, and got a grade of 98. There will be no ending to wondering what cost me two points since there was no feedback. I have just written and submitted an article to a magazine, and know, of course, that could have a less than satisfactory ending, especially if I made the same mistake as the one that cost me two points.

I have also joined a local writing club. I have no idea who is in it, save for the person I contacted so I could join. I felt that this monthly meeting, together with its writing “assignment,” would, at the very least, foster the discipline I need to begin writing regularly. The first meeting I will attend is next week. This silly essay is, hopefully, the beginning of the writings I will prepare for what will, I am confident, be a happy new beginning as a member.

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Pat Aube Gray

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