You're Never Too Old

I'm having fun painting a tangle of oak trees. It doesn't look anything like what I'm aiming at yet, but I am a persistent painter. I don't stop until it looks the way I want it to. When I have succeeded, I will post it on my art blog, http://unblockedartist-troyfarr.blogspot.com/, or click on the link down below on the right. I am happy to be unblocked after so many years.

I wish I could tell every person, who has given up on something they used to do, how rewarding it is to do it again, no matter how long it's been. People often tell me they can't take old talents up again because now they're too old. But if they would just do it, they'd find they're not too old, after all, and that creativity makes life worthwhile. It keeps people young and interested in each new day. It causes one to live in the now, rather than in the past or future. I know this because I'm 90, and painting and writing better than I ever did when I was younger.

I hope someone out there will throw caution to the winds and start in on something they used to enjoy. Give it a try!

Kindness

I've been thinking about kindness, and how many times during my life an unexpected word or act of kindness gave me a whole new perspective. The thought that someone would put themselves out for me just to help, and not because they hoped to get something out of it, was such a gift. Even though sometimes it was a very small thing, it was always meaningful because it was a form of caring, and in depressing times, caring was what I had little of. Kindness is giving, not asking. Kindness made me kind.

Thanks to All

Thanks to all of you who wrote about and prayed for my sons, Bob and Bill. Both are much better now, and gradually getting back to normal strength. Unfortunately, Bob still has the excruciating headache that has dogged him relentlessly for the past ten or eleven years. I'm hoping that will be the next problem that gets solved.

Now that the crisis is over, I am back to my painting, and hope to have something to post on my blog, Unblocked Artist, before long. (See the link below.) I am so lucky to be an artist as well as a writer. I love writing, but it is not soothing. When I am painting, no thoughts or answers are required of me--just immersion in the wonders of color and shape. Magically, I can always find my way to the colors I need. I sometimes read things by other artists giving pointers about tones and values, etc., and I realize how little training I have actually had. If I had to think about how to do it, I would be lost. I just look. And look. And look again. Painting makes me happy.