A vintage napkin from back in 2004, the last year I drew them for my daughters’ lunches.
I think this is true of the public and those close to you. Arguing a point to no avail only to find them agree with it after someone on TV says it is frustrating. LOL
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“The public mind is educated quickly by events, slowly by arguments.” – Oscar Wilde
When I was teaching drawing back in California in the 80s and 90s I use to use a few techniques to help my students really ‘see’ their subject or the art clearly, without the unconscious assumptions they were using. One was to turn the art in progress upside down and have them look at it. Another was to have them hold a hand mirror and look at their work (or the subject) through it. Yet another was to have them put their work at the end of a long, long breezeway or hallway and look at it from as far away as possible.
The purpose of course was to help them see their work more clearly, to notice things they weren’t likely to see when standing at arm’s length or within the constrains of how they would normally look at it.
Translate that into your life. How do you look at things (or people). Do you see the person you think is ugly and find the good angle, the good light and see their beauty? Do you change your thinking about them and see their beauty? What about events? Can you change the way you look at the traffic jam? Maybe it gives you more time to listen to that good book on CD? What about a rainy day? Does it mess up your plans and depress you, or can you look at it another way and find a great new thing to do indoors (or even outdoors in the rain!)
Your perception is what makes reality, not the ‘real’ world. Change the perception and the world changes.
Thanks to my new friend Erin Christy for having this quote on her Facebook page!
Drawing and commentary @ Marty Coleman
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Dr. Wayne Dyer, 1940-not dead yet, American Author and Speaker
This one is worth considering even though I am not sure I agree with it.
It does seem to be true when you look at the great innovators in history. Almost all of them had a set of rules they had to at least ignore if they were to make the scientific or cultural progress they ended up making.
Of course, when I say rules I am not necessarily talking about written set of rules. I am talking about the socially understood parameters of behavior, expression, study, investigation, etc.
So, what about the non-innovators? What about the regular joes of the world who just go about their business, who is remembered among them? Are you remembered for smoking in the bathroom in school 1 year after the fact, 30 years after the fact? Are you remembered for being a great, rule abiding mother or father? See, in these cases, I don’t know if this quote really does hold true or not. What do you think?
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“You are remembered for the rules you break.” – Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964, American Army General
I think it is understood that not ALL opportunities need to be taken, and some you do take will end in dead ends. But this quote isn’t for those who are willing to take risks and step through the door, it is for those who are afraid.
They are afraid they will get hurt, or it will taste bad or they will get lost or they may look foolish or they might die or they will fail or they will lose what they already have or….the list is endless.
The truth is those things are excuses, not reasons. The reason to not take advantage of an opportunity is because, after evaluating, you honestly feel it is not worth doing. It isn’t likely to give the results you want, you might have already done it a number of times, who knows. But you have honestly thought it through.
Excuses are those things that you say to rationalize the unconscious real reason. And it isn’t just the things you say, it is the way you design your life to make grabbing opportunities impossible. Maybe you have too many obligations, or too many pets, or too little money or too few friends or too much weight or too little education or…..
What is your excuse and how and why did you design it into your life?
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“Life opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or you stay afraid of taking them.” – Jim Carrey, 1962-not dead yet, American comedian and actor
I am not a believer in all things being ‘small’ and not worthy of ‘sweat’ as the book title suggests. There are some things worth sweating over and not all stuff is small stuff.
But it is also true that people FREAK out over things that are small, that are not emergencies. I often wonder if it isn’t something biological that unconsciously requires certain people to stress, to freak out, as if the act of stressing makes something happen in their bodies and brains that is needed. It might not be healthy, but somehow the body and brain feed off it, need it, and so their life is designed to have stress, to have drama, even if they say they don’t like it.
That is one of the most important things to look at when trying to figure out how to change your life. Figure out WHY you like this thing you say you hate enough to have it repeat again and again. The thing you hate whether it be stress or drama or something else, gives you something you want, inspite of you hating it. What is that?
Drawing and Commentary © Marty Coleman
“Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Everything isn’t that important.” – Natalie Goldberg, 1948-not dead yet, American Author
A vintage napkin from 2002.
I love the sky, especially here in Oklahoma. When people ask me if I miss California I usually say the landscape is better there but the skyscape is much better here in Oklahoma.
It is easy to see the landscape; it is permanent for the most part, it will always be there, and so we feel like we can define ourselves in relationship to it. It is like a non-fiction story of history or science. We believe we are hearing a true story, something real.
But the sky is a different story. It is a novel. It is a poem. It is not telling us something we can rely on to be true because it disappears and may not come back. If it does it will be different. How can we rely on the sky? But isn’t it true, it is always changing yes, but it is always returning as well. It comes back and becomes something you knew before, the clouds aren’t exactly the same, but they remind. It is the reminder as in a novel, of your own life, your own history. It is a poem that gives hints, that gives bread crumbs reminding you of something else, a remembrance.
I love the sky. It feeds my eyes every day.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“The sky is the daily bread for the eyes.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, American Essayist, speaker and philosopher
This is an homage to all the scientists out there, including my incredible eldest daughter, Rebekah, a Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience at George Mason University in Virginia.
The heart of science, from the beginning, when it was one and the same with religion, is to find out why things are the way there are and how to fix, change, improve, build upon, or just understand as much as possible.
To be a good scientist you have to withstand the appearance of absurdity in what you seek. Like the paleontologist looking for bones, having to answer questions from his mother or father about how he can make a living, or what good it will do to find some old bone anyway.
Or the cosmologist who has the engineer for a best friend who chides her for always having her head beyond the clouds and never producing much while she, on the other hand, has built a car or a bridge or something practical.
But it is the scientist who will discover where we came from, where we are going, who we are, how we can survive, what kills us, what saves us, and why it is so. It is the scientist who is searching and in the searching, absurd as it seems, is finding and becoming great in the process.
I love scientists. Pass this on to one you love, too!
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“Man is absurd in what he seeks, great through what he finds.” – Paul Valery, 1871-1945, French poet and essayist
So…all you pessimists out there, don’t say I never did anything for ya!
Drawing © Marty Coleman
“If it wasn’t for the optimist the pessimist would never know how happy he isn’t.” – Anonymous
That is the key, isn’t it. To stop oneself before doing something stupid or damaging or hurtful. Repenting in advance does seem to be the one thing people don’t do enough of!
Drawing © Marty Coleman
“It is much easier to repent of sins that we have committed than to repent of those we intend to commit.” – Josh Billings, American sage, 1818-1885
I know we don’t all have great memories of the past. But here it seems to be talking about the good memories we have and how they came to be good memories. How did we remember them in the way we did. It might have been a day at the beach with your lover, or a great time at the amusement park with your child or parent. You look back and forget the heat of that day but remember the fun. You might forget the hassle of finding parking but remember the beautiful fresh salt air breeze of the beach.
Can you see the ‘perfect’ in the ‘present’? Can you focus on that. Not the crowded elevator trip, but the great smile of the receptionist. Not the wait to get your lunch, but the restful moment of relaxation that comes after you sit down.
It is a choice about what you pay attention to and what you focus on.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman
“Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson: you find the present tense, but the past perfect.” – Owens Lee Pomeroy
