Positioning statement?
I was listening to my favorite podcast (Audio Dharma) on Sunday and Max Erdstein was talking about impermanence, and how our tendency to expect things to stay the same creates friction when we are (and the world around us is) constantly changing. If we look in the mirror and expect to see the same person we were 10 years ago, there is a good chance we are going to be disappointed by the person looking back today, for example.
That got me thinking about expectations and how they can affect our experience. Last week, in my painting, I kept expecting a little saving or redemption with each painting — some validation that my work was going to make the world a better place. What’s more, it seemed like it should feel effortless. Well, let’s just say that my unrealistic and not-very-useful expectations created a lot of friction/dukkha for me.
This morning, I started thinking about altering my position in a way that might help to enjoy my experience a little more. If I knew I wanted to feel good at the end of the day, how might I approach my work a little differently? I could aspire to create a small, cute painting that kept me learning and maybe even seeing progress (which is what my actions have been these last weeks, but not always my attitude).
It seems so obvious, but for me it was like a little happy explosion of understanding… and of course I don’t want to forget it and, since I am a painter, I made an image to put up in the studio and remind myself: Position Yourself for Fun.
And you know what? It was a much more fun day. I doodled the above, then played with a variation on that theme (using acrylics, because I wanted to do some layering and see where that went)…
… and then switched back to oils and indeed painted a cute little painting that showed progress but also lots of room for growth.
Will any of these paintings radically change the course of human history? Nope. But, they might help keep me on course and moving forward and that seems like a gift to enjoy — and have fun with.
