I took an art class one time. I was horrible at
it...couldn't draw a straight line and for the life of me would always tear the
paper as I would get so frustrated with myself and erase a lot. I would
draw a line...judge it as wrong and make a grab at my eraser to furiously try
and make the line go away. Ha...it never did.
The greatest
advice I got from that art teacher was this. He said, "with
art...you never erase...just keep drawing."
I remember
thinking..."wow...that's stupid."
But to be honest...I think he was kind of right. Really was.
Eventually as I would work on the piece of art…the “mistakes” and lines
that I made, that I would furiously try to erase, were simply covered up by the
art on top. They were taken over by the
whole of the piece and not dictated by the faint “mistake” that was underneath.
I believe this
relates to regret. I think that far too
many people walk around with regret. They think about all the things that
they've done in their lives and they cannot help but focus on it. This
focus results in being the highlight of their life. The thing that they
think about most and let dictate how their lives are ran. They find it
hard to focus on the whole piece of art…their life. Instead, they become caught up and worried
about the little line that for a moment discolored the faint white paper.
If you focus on the line you made…then try to erase it…you’ll only
tear the whole thing. Instead, focus on
the big picture. On the beautiful lines
that you will make…on the colors that run over each other…use the whole fuckin’
crayon box and eventually you will not be able to see the faded line because
the beauty of the whole piece has taken over.
Throw your erasers away. They
do nothing but keep your attention in the wrong place.
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