The past two months, I participated in a watercolor painting class. After a little motivation from my wife (including two day classes as a Valentine’s Day gift), I decided to take the next step. It was intimidating, but enjoyable and I learned so many things about painting and about life.
I expected to gain some understanding of artistic design, painting tools and watercolor techniques. What I did not expect included learning to see with new eyes and insights into living in the moment. The instructor repeatedly mentioned that taking this class would change the way we saw the world around us. From his perspective, becoming a student of art ultimately leads to asking of the things we see in our lives, “How can I paint that?” The answer involves more than color choices and techniques, it also involves truly observing what we see.
A classic example happened during a recent class on painting trees. As we began to paint the trunks and limbs, our teacher asked, “what color should we use?” Of course, we responded with browns and grays. His suggestion, “begin with blue.” I was sure I’d never seen a blue tree trunk, but I was patient. By the time the class was over, our blue tree trunks looked more realistic than I imagined possible. Since then, as I observed the trees around me, I’ve seen a number of blue tree trunks and a number of colors I never knew were there.
Attentiveness to life is a gift. Not only do we see surprising colors and details we never noticed, but our eyes are opened to life that is all around us. The great diversity of creations begins to unfold before us and some of the simplest, most common things become awe-inspiring wonders.
Similar discoveries await us in our emotional, relational and spiritual worlds as well. When we pause long enough to truly see and when we are willing to retrain our senses, a world of fantastic wonders open to us, filled with great diversity, new discoveries and unimaginable inspiration.
I love living with my new eyes on the world. I invite you to join me as you take the time to open yours to what is around you as well.
