But I Wanted a Happy Painting!

“There is a monster coming out of that cloud so I added more white because I don’t want a monster in this painting.”

“I’m done.” 
“What do you notice as you look as your painting?” 
“I’m feeling sad but I don’t want to put sadness in this painting. I want it to stay happy.”


“I’m stuck.” 
“What color wouldn’t belong in this painting?” 
“Black! Black really doesn’t belong.”
 “I’m noticing a lot of energy around black. What would happen if you put it in anyway?” 
“But it’s supposed to be a happy painting. Black isn’t a happy color.”

Our inner judge knows how things “should” be. It will give you so many reasons to ignore the quiet of voice of intuition that is calling you to take a risk, appreciate the complexity of life and to allow things to continue to evolve and change. 

So, what might happen if you listen to that invitation, allow the monsters, the sadness, the color black to show up in your painting?

•  You might like the painting even better as it becomes deeper and more complex.
  
• You might be surprised by what comes after the sadness as the painting continues to evolve
  
• You might find that you didn’t “ruin” the happiness after all.
  
• You might hate it and have to live with knowledge that you wasted all that time and paint on a disappointing painting.

I encourage you to take up the challenge. Dip the brush in paint, put paint to paper and find out what happens next. (And, just in case, you can always ask me to take a photo of the painting before risking the big change.)

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