Here’s the thing! We live in this great world that has a continual offering of amazing opportunities to help us be better versions of our selves. Many of us get stuck on the precepts of being the most skilled or better than anyone else at something.
As George Carlin put it “Better than Who?”
I wanted to be a world class banjo player
I had to ask myself, after several failed attempts at trying to be a world class banjo player, why was it important? Seriously! Why? I still play but with no pressure now.
Fourty years plus, ago I made a commitment to get in shape and at that time body building was considered weird and an underground culture. There was no internet at that time and virtually no way for a kid from small town Alberta to reference a proper Body Building program.
The University of Lethbridge had a gym that was well equipped with old handmade equipment and weights and it was in a room in the basement that nobody ever used. The next four years, myself and four friends trained almost every day in that gym without paying attention to how the facility was becoming more popular. We had developed programs and routines based on what we had read in magazines. We had no aspirations beyond looking and feeling great and having fun—becoming Mr. Olympia wasn’t even remotely on our radar.
Now I’m in my 60’s and I still hit the gym almost every day because it is part of my life style.
My point is, you can generate a fantastic life style based on your own terms and ingenuity. The world right now is overwhelmed with people, particularly kids, striving to be the best at any cost. The cost can be high when people trade in living life, having fun and love for the GOLD RING.
I was given 2 pieces of simple wisdom over the years: “if someone opens a conversation spewing rules and regulations at you, run don’t walk away from them”. The other is from my friend Matt, who said: “why do people take life so seriously when it’s all about sincerity”.
Finding out what works for me is an important part of the driving force behind my art career.
I came out of university having learned some valuable things and it wasn’t until I started my professional art practice that I really learned the truth. Education expanded my awareness, revealed my potential and personal vision and was a jumping off point to see if I was dedicated enough to pursue my dreams.
The important part about this whole thing was finding out what made me feel great and how I could share it with the world.
I was never able to calculate success because I didn’t really know what it was. I was however, good at jumping in the deep end with little regard for consequence.
Now that I’m older, I realize that I have always had success and there is no consequence from jumping in the deep end because that’s what works for me.
Navigating my life and art practice overlap with the stories my paintings tell.
Please invest a couple of minutes and take a look at my portfolio, maybe it will reveal something you never expected.
