Work and play…

I’ve always envied people who can draw, paint, and sketch.   Those aren’t areas of talent or giftedness for me.  And we always seem to wish for that which we don’t possess.  It’s human nature.

But I don’t let it keep me from enjoying the process of playing with colors.  Right now I am coloring in part to regain some fine motor skills that my COVID process has affected. So it’s both occupational therapy/work, and fun/play. 

A while back I bought an inexpensive but fairly comprehensive set of colored pencils to play with.  I also found a similarly inexpensive sharpener, with a USB cable!  Modern and high-tech for such a simple hobby.  Sharpening my pencils this week when I needed to proved a bit zen like, a meditative, almost hypnotic task, watching the shavings accumulate in the container.  Even the shavings resulted in a beautiful image.

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Blending colors sparks my imagination and frees my mind to wander to other areas of my life, sometimes helping me to unravel the tangles of my day to day concerns.  I can settle into my couch, busy my hands, and end up with some surprising color combinations I wouldn’t typically put together, and perhaps come up with an unexpected solution to a life issue in the process.  No rules.  It’s liberating.

There has been a lot of time recently for me to think about my life, and how I want to live it moving forward.  Proper priorities, balance, authenticity, and simplicity are the things I want to embody from now on.  It is a tall order. 

Lord, help my true colors to shine forth, glowing with a vibrant reflection of Your plan for my life and how I can serve the people You place along my path.  Amen.

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