Judge from the Heart

A few thoughts on true beauty... Today I have been painting my mural; a wall of flowers. It is the first time I have done something this. It started surprisingly well, but then I made a Lilly far too orange and then another flower lost its light and shades to my over indulgence with a paint brush! In a moment of sheer frustration at my inability to create the perfect image, I was tempted to apply the hose pipe and watch my flowers fall to a rainbow of puddles. But, instead I laughed at the ridiculous pressure I was putting on myself to be a great artist at first trial. Then I thought, how sad it is to knock myself down before I have even give myself a chance. And so I took my paintbrush and some white paint to soften the strong hues, and 'edit it' so to speak, so that when it is dry I can build up the mural with new colors and try to keep the feeling alive. If I do not achieve something I like, I can change it again, enjoying the process of learning how to create.
This highlighted to me the process of learning to live. If the process is focused on the end goal, we may well live in frustration; stressed. But, when we surrender the perfection, the ideal and the end goal, and choose to make the process the goal; to enjoy it, to be in it; in the moment, seeing our life, our creation as our art, then perhaps it can be a more joyful event. With this is mind, I am reminded to judge my art with a kind heart, so that the process can be beautiful, and most of all to judge myself with kindness, because this is the only way we create true beauty in life.  

Question: if you were encouraging a child to paint for their own joy and expression, (no right or wrong, no lines to stay inside or styles of confirm to), how would you speak to them? What would happen if you applied the same voice to your life?


True beauty, it's how kind you think, its how much you love, it's who you are.