Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint you can at it.

Danny Kaye

My friend, Jason Marchi has this has a tagline, a signature at the end of his emails.  It reminds me of another quote he introduced to me through Ray Bradbury:
Writing a rough draft is like throwing up on a page.

Jason and I have known each other for over twenty years, having first met during an eight week writer’s workshop in 1989.  We’ve been friends ever since.

Being a writer first; ALWAYS, I clearly resonate with Bradbury’s quote.  When I was writing fiction, several years ago I spent six weeks writing a first draft novel.  I wrote ten pages a day, and it was just like the Bradbury quote.

It REALLY was like throwing up on a page.  The words and thoughts literally poured out of me.  There were times when I was writing where I didn’t even know what was coming out of my fingers as I typed.  I was in the flow.  That’s such an amazing place to be and I was talking to Jason about this the other day telling him that I FINALLY have that feeling back now that I’m writing my blog.  It is so gratifying to have that feeling return to me.

However, being the optimist that I am I can’t help but also connect with Danny Kaye’s quote.

Life IS a great big canvas. We must throw all the paint we can.  What other way is there to live your life?

How do you know what will stick unless we do everything?
How do you we know what to do with our lives unless we experiment?
How do we know what works and what doesn’t unless we use the scientific method?

The answer is we don’t.

Go out there.
Do your thing.
Find your gift.

And when you’ve discovered your gift, keep exploring.  Remember my last column:
We All Have More Time where I spoke of Grandma Moses?  I’m sure she thought she found her own gift long before she discovered she was supposed to be an artist.

Don’t give up if you haven’t found your calling yet.  Keep throwing that paint.  Be like one of my favorite artists, Pollock.  Throw as much paint as possible.  Something will stick and you’ll look back at your canvas and say much like my friend at Sea Green Natural did:
Holy cow!  It was in front of me this whole time.

Remember:
Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint you can at it.

Be Happy!  Be Well!  Be Positive!
Blessings to you.
—
Chris