Crayon’s Away!

When a kindergarten class was asked, “Who in here can draw?” every child eagerly raised their hand. When that same question was posed to a graduating class of college seniors, less than have of the students raised their hand.

Why is that? The question was not, “Who can draw well?” or “Who in here could professionally sell their artwork?” It was simply “can you draw?”

Everyone should have raised his or her hand. Everyone can draw. Doodling on the corners of a paper completely counts, stick figures count, complicated line mazes count… it’s all drawing.

When we get older self doubt becomes ever more present and suddenly we find ourselves turning off areas of ourselves that are creative simply because we don’t think we “can.” Physically, you can do almost anything: Draw. Sing. Dance.

Just because you might not do those things well doesn’t mean you should ever stop doing them.

I can't stop laughing...

Put On A Happy Face

The newest American Express commercial puts a smile on my face because it reminds me so completely of my Aunt Valia. You see, Valia made a habit of finding faces is everything. And once she pointed out the face…that was it. It was done. Never could I look at that object again seriously.

I’ll never forget the first time I bought an expensive purse. I was in high school, it was sixty dollars, and I had been visiting it in the window of an art gallery (weird, right?) for at least two weeks before I actually made my purchase.

The day I bought it I came home beaming. Buying this purse was my effort to become more adult, more civilized, and I thought I accomplished that. Enter my beloved Valia.

The second she saw my new “sophisticated” purse, I knew what she was thinking. Quickly, I exclaimed, “Don’t say it! I know what your thinking! It doesn’t have a funny face!” She started to laugh, point out how cute the purse was, and get the look she gets. I was so upset. My big adult investment was dissolving before my eyes.

I’ll never forget how bad she felt afterwards, and then subsequently how bad I felt getting mad at such a ridiculous thing. Since then, we had a lot of laughs over that dumb purse. And she was completely right, my purse did have a face, it looked like Squidward : )

And in case you haven’t see this wonderful commercial…enjoy!

Um, Can We Try That Again?

Last night I watched Baz Luhrmann’s version of Romeo & Juliet. And again last night, like always, I yelled at my television…loudly.

Why is it that this Shakespeare tragedy gets me so mad? I know how it ends!

Yet, every time I watch the movie, like clock work, I shout things like, “Why didn’t the priest just wait for Romeo to come to the chapel and tell him it was a hoax?!” or “If Romeo had talked one minute longer he would see Juliet wake up!” or “Stupid Balthasar! He messes everything up!”

It’s funny how masochistic watching this movie becomes. I willingly sit through the beauty of them meeting for the first time, get married, play in the sheets…almost forgetting how it all plays out (no pun intended).

Only to have the last ten minutes turn me in a puddle. Oh Shakespeare, what have you done to me?