Are our hobbies just a way to relax or do they have deeper meanings?
For fifty years, I had a belief that I could not paint (my mother was a great artist and she did my painting homework for me to get a better grade at school). Then at age 50, I started taking painting classes. There was no expectation so I could relax and enjoy painting without worrying about a "good' grade. It was not easy at first. My engineering mind wanted guaranteed, efficient step by step process which did not exist. I learned to be patient and follow my instinct. For several years I expressed myself through my paintings and that was one of the best things I had done as a hobby.
What did I learn from my painting experience?
1- There were no mistakes and I could always paint over what I did not like.
2- In order to magnify bright colors I need to have much darker colors in the background.
3- Paint what I like to paint (do not follow the other students or even the teacher).
How does the painting experience apply to our day-to-day life?
1- There are no mistakes. Every experience teaches us something and we always have choices to do something different.
2- We can shine and make a big difference despite all the darkness around us.
3- Do what you enjoy in your life and it is fine to be unique in your own way.
Copyright . 2016 by Shervin Hojat
Painting probably is one of the best ways to do self therapy. Look what it did for Vincent van Gogh! I always wanted to paint, and have drawn a lot in my life and have done my own book covers with the help of computer graphics, but my paralyzed hands would make painting very difficult so I never went through with doing it although I probably could have earlier on when I still painted with a brush around the house. Now I could probably only paint with a brush held in my teeth, and that would be very difficult.
Ron