I invite you to watch the video and listen to this song first… (if you prefer, lyrics are here)
The story goes something like that: when Peter Gabriel decided to leave Genesis and go solo, most of the critics and his friends tried to convince him that he was making the wrong choice: he had fame, fortune, and support within the Genesis. But he knew best.
He knew what was best for him.
Had to listen had no choice I did not believe the information I just had to trust imagination
Something similar happened to me. When I said I would have gone back to College, at 51, to do art and design, and I would have earned less money, I would have met new people, I would have changed a big part of my life, a lot of people around me advised me against doing it: it’s going to be expensive, you are settled in your life, what if you lose your job, what if you are among students you don’t like, what if you don’t like the tutors, what if you are not good, have you ever done art before? how good were you at school? You are going to be so tired / stressed / lonely / frustrated / …
To keep in silence I resigned My friends would think I was a nut
And you know what? They might be right.
(DISCL: But I have seen my dad dying at 56, full of regrets for the things he hasn’t done, with too many “what if’s”…)
And liberty she pirouette When I think that I am free
I am not interested anymore about what other people think. I do believe in my abilities, in my determination, and in me, and in T R Y I N G. It took me about 2 years to make this final decision. And literally, 5 min to sign up and get my card. At the end of the first week, I have decided to sit there and do a watercolour. To try. No one is born a professor. So, I just sat there and tried. And I tried with this song because it means so much to me. (And it’s a perfect song to do some proper skipping to).
So, I am not even going to critique the piece, the hand, the strokes, the balance, the texture. This test, this painting is just “meaning”. And it is important for the meaning I give to it.
And if you have any doubt or external conditioning about doing or not doing something, just give it a go!
love x
m.
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