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I occasionally look like I’m drowning. It’s my style. Wild Waters — watermedia painting by Cheryl O Art I learned how to swim as an adult. I remember my first class. I was up to my waist in the pool as the instructor explained the basics. I thought, “You mean I have to move my arms and legs — at the SAME time!” Eventually, I got it, although my style still tempts any nearby lifeguards to throw the rescue buoy at me. Life does that. Gives us challenges that when we first take them on, we look like we are about to drown. Now, I was not learning to swim in the ocean with no one around. I was at a pool and there was an instructor and lifeguards. Much of what I learn these days comes from books. They are my teachers. Wonderful patient teachers, they are always there waiting for the time that suits me. There is so much to learn and I find that exciting. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you are to live forever.— Mahatma Gandhi My friends are my lifeguards – people who accept me for where I am at. People who keep in touch and are sincere when they ask, ‘How are you doing?’ These friends also understand the flailing about when I am learning something new. Here’s what I am currently learning. Consensus has it that relationships are the most important thing in our lives. While need for human connection appears to be innate, the ability to form healthy, loving relationships is learned.— Psychology Today Lately, I’ve been learning more about relationships. “How to Know a Person” by David Brooks is a gem on this topic. I found this book so full of action-worthy ideas that I read it twice. The second time I indulged in underlining (not a library book). There is a lot of value there. The author states the single skill at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization or society is the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen. I want to do better with that. I want to let the people I love know they are heard and valued. The key is listening well and then responding in meaningful ways. Every once in a while, I sense I am learning to swim with this. The waters can be calm and that makes it easier. Those are the happy relaxed friend times. The waters can also be turbulent when sorrows or tragedy strike. Those take more skill to navigate well as a friend. Sometimes it’s hard to help someone stay afloat. But life has a way of throwing rough waters at each of us. Being a friend at these times is more of a challenge. I have so much to learn. I am grateful for those friends who have been a beacon to me. Your kindness and caring show me how to navigate in rough waters. You know who you are. Thank you. Not everything I write is published on this blog. If you want to read more of my writings, you could connect with me on Substack. This platform is free to join. You will get 

When done well, these have a lot in common. It’s about fitting together and communicating — with love. A work of art that did not begin in emotion is not art.— Paul Cezanne In painting, the colors, lines, and shapes fit together in an intricate dance of opposition and commonality. When this goes well — sometimes more intuitively and sometimes with a lot of thoughtful work — the results evoke strong emotions. When truly in creative mode, time disappears, there is no capacity to worry, and it becomes a liberating experience with the participants completely lost in their media. The comparison between making art and making love becomes obvious when you think of it this way. The intricate dance while time disappears, can equally apply to art and good sex. The word creative itself — to create and procreate. My current procreating is in the area of paintings. Artists sometimes refer to their works of art fondly as ‘their children’. I have been known to say, “Some of these babies need to find new homes” referring to paintings after a particularly prolific painting period. When creativity is done as an act of love, it feels like the one ingredient to make life shine. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist famous for his studies about creativity, would agree. As a child, he watched the adults in his world be devastated by World War II and began a life-long quest to define what makes a life worth living. He concluded that being able to achieve the creative state in one’s life is what makes all the difference. Some aspects of painting might even be better than sex. I have heard artists call painting their ‘place of refreshing’. Their ‘refuge when life gets tough’. Referring to this healing aspect of creativity, some even call it their ‘sanity’. I haven’t heard anyone refer to sex that way — unless people are just too shy to say so. Regardless, I am convinced that the best of life comes with a sense of making love. When you are creative in any area in your life, from friendships to baking a pie, the results, including many awkward stumbles along the way, will feel like making love. If they don’t, some choices need to be made. Is this an area of your life that is not suited to you, or is it one that needs more practice and play, to be making love there? Life is too short not to be made with lots of love. Good painting and good sex have a lot in common. At their best, they are both about making love. Not everything I write is published on this blog. If you want to read more of my writings, you could connect with me on Substack. This platform is free to join. You will get 1 short (3-4 minute) video and 1 article per week emailed to you. Here is a link to my profile which shows other articles I have published on Substack. Cheryl O Art writes on Substack 

Welcome to my mind Watercolour painting by Cheryl O Art It was one of those times when too many thoughts came bounding at me. These thoughts did not know each other, or at least, I did not think they were related. Despite this, they were eager to energetically congregate there in my gray matter. I felt rather lost, wishing that between my ears I might find a wee map with a small red dot and the words, ‘You are here.’ There was no map. I began to move the thoughts around like jigsaw puzzle pieces hoping for a match-up somewhere. The disjointed and unrelated thoughts were quite clear. There was ‘being’, ‘beauty’, ‘love’, and I am quite sure there was also a giggle in there. Not like the 3 a.m. thought fests consisting of slimy somewhat scary thoughts that are remarkably vague and confused. You may know them, those half-formed shapes in the dark corner. Let’s leave these at the bottom of a swampy area in the gray matter, never to see the light of day. I digress. Someone said – oh golly, I googled but can’t find the quote – ‘someone’ will have to do. Someone said, ‘When things do what they are meant to do, they are beautiful.’ It was likely more eloquent in the original, but these were the words I was able to grab out of the wild whirlwind of thoughts. The beauty of things in just being. I thought of snowflakes giving wet kisses to my cheeks, and watercolour paint bursting into the pre-wet area of a watercolour paper. I thought of the powerful flight of the red-tailed hawk that lives nearby. Yes, these are beautiful in simply being, in simply doing what they were meant to do. I decided to swing a lasso and see if I could catch some more thoughts. You should be informed that I failed at skipping rope in Grade 3. The idea of me lassoing something is quite ludicrous. But inside the territory known as the brain, those practical inhibitors hold no weight at all. So, there I am. Bravely swinging my lasso at the whirling thoughts, when there is a tap on my shoulder. A smiling voice says ‘Silly, you can’t catch the next thought with a lasso because the next thought is myself, and I am the wind through which all things live and move and have their being.’ I stop swinging the lasso – and then I see it. Shimmering like a fleet of fireflies in formation, oh, I do so like alliteration – shimmering in the air is a word, and the word is ‘love’. Hmmm. Let’s see how that one might connect. If things doing what they are meant to do are beautiful, then they are easy to love. Nope. It’s a miss – close but no cookie. How about this instead? Things doing what they are meant to do are beautiful because they were created in love. Yes! There is a good fit. Now you may wish to argue that there is no logic at all in this. Just because things are beautiful doesn’t logically infer being created in love. To which I will respond, have you seen a butterfly wing? Have you 

Creativity makes life more fun, for you and for your audience. Art is a language whether you speak with visual arts or with words. Artists can say anything they want using their chosen language. When I aim to delight my audience, I apply the following. Surprise The painting above was a commissioned piece. My understanding is, that Petri the cat rules. The surprise of the cat being combined with part of a famous portrait of Napoleon makes this painting a delight. (The ‘N’ on the necklace became a ‘P’.) Art with a surprise captures interest. Words can also be used to surprise and delight. Metaphors are ripe for this one. Example: ‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.’— William Shakespeare This is a common metaphor. Switching it up surprises the reader; such as, ‘All the world’s an ice rink, and all the men and women fall on their bottoms at times’.— Cheryl O Art Pick a common metaphor and see what fun you can have with it. Your readers will have fun too. Breaking Then there are common words of wisdom, that may not always be wise. ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ — Thomas Bertram Lance There are many instances where this is great advice. There is one where it rarely is; when you want to be creative. To be creative instead think, ‘If it’s not broke, break it.’ This creativity advice went against the grain for me until I thought about it more. Then I realized, I do this all the time when being creative. When drawing or painting I purposely leave a line unfinished or break it, and let the viewer’s imagination fill it in. In the acrylic collage painting below, notice all the lost edges made with torn paper. And for further surprise, there are peppercorns in the necklace. Mountain Man – acrylic collage painting by Cheryl O Art Some art forms are all about breaking and reassembling. Think about stained glass, quilting, and collage. These are artworks that depend on cutting and then reassembling into something different. You could not make this art if you didn’t break it first — the glass, the fabric, the collage components. Considering that the definition of creativity is to combine things in a new way this breaking makes excellent sense. There are various ways to apply ‘breaking’ to words. Break up your paragraphs. Keep most of them short, but supply interest by varying the rhythm and inserting a few longer ones. That keeps the writing from becoming boring. This next suggestion about breaking may surprise you. I’m a big fan of Grammarly and highly recommend it. Therefore the next suggestion applies more to seasoned writers. You need to know your voice first to apply this one. That is, sometimes break the Grammarly rules. Don’t break them so much that your article lights up like a Christmas tree when the editor opens it — heheh. That probably won’t end well. Instead, leave those words or phrases that feel most like your voice, even if Grammarly doesn’t like them. Too much Grammarly in my writing starts to feel sterile. Take Away I love applying these tips of surprise and breaking to both my art 

And I didn’t know why. I was browsing notes on Substack when it happened. Someone had posted, Be brave, dear heart.— C.S. Lewis and suddenly I was crying. I don’t cry often these days. Why did that quote touch me so deeply? Here is my convoluted journey to a conclusion that gives me peace. I am at a crossroads in my life. After 25 years of full-time teaching, I am leaving behind in-person teaching. I still teach interactive online art courses —so it is semi-retirement. Some courage is required to take this step. I had been pondering it for over a year before I finally decided. Even as I write this, it doesn’t fit at all as a reason to be crying. Especially considering that there are a multitude of other reasons that folks have to cry that are much more significant than my transition into retirement. Talk about being weeny! What else could it be? I watched my parents struggle and lose battles. Dad with Alzheimer’s and Mom with afflictions that took away her mobility. Golly, that was sad. I had no time to cry then — too busy trying to make their lives the best that could be hoped for — considering. Now they are both recently gone it could be a delayed reaction on my part. Possibly. Emotions can be a stewpot with multiple causes. I may never know why that quote made me cry. Or — maybe I have focused on the wrong part of the quote. Maybe it wasn’t about being brave. Maybe I was crying because those words “dear heart” suddenly broke through my grown-up barriers of poise, to a place that responds to love. Yes. This feels right. The Narnia Chronicles were a place I could escape to as a child. These books are a magical place where fiction speaks deep truths — highly recommended to all you book lovers if you have not read them yet. Meanwhile, what can I do except go with the flow? The flow of tears that is. Many questions go unanswered. Enough with the navel-gazing over here. I don’t have to understand exactly why I was crying, and in this, I find my peace. The heart has its reasons that reason does not know.— Blaise Pascal Not everything I write is published on this blog. If you want to read more of my writings, you could connect with me on Substack. This platform is free to join. You will get 1 short (3-4 minute) video and 1 article per week emailed to you. Here is a link to my profile which shows other articles I have published on Substack. Cheryl O Art writes on Substack 

A humorous look at when words go rogue. There are rules for these thingsthe dancing of words.They establish a rhythmoften best heardby reading aloud.The same with the rhyme,after setting the pace,the next rhyme should landin just the right placethe precedent set.This works just finewith words that are tamebut what does one dowhen wild words or strangerefuse to be held?They burst forth unbiddenbreaking all of the rules.No rhyme and no rhythmthey insist, “We’re not fools,”and deftly escape.We’ve bled and will speak.We shout as joy should.Your rules cannot hold us,you imagined they could?Embarrassed, I smile.The battle is overthough barely begun.Throw out the dang rules,toss out everyone.I’m giving up.And startled the penon spasming toesbows to the wild words,“Hmm. Let’s call it prose.”and continues to write.Cheryl O Art Not everything I write is published on this blog. If you want to read more of my writings, you could connect with me on Substack. This platform is free to join. You will get 1 short (3-4 minute) video and 1 article per week emailed to you. Here is a link to my profile which shows other articles I have published on Substack. Cheryl O Art writes on Substack 

How I stopped being frustrated with time and did more of the things I love Watercolour by Cheryl O Art Time is a tyrant. That dang clock keeps ticking, and the years pass in an out-of-focus blur. There are times we feel trapped. Here is what helped me break out of this prison called time. The Problem I have so much more that I want to do: writing, painting, and creating new courses to inspire creativity in others, to name a few. There needs to be quality time with the people I love too. Add in, I am old by anyone’s standards and time pressure has taken on a larger significance. Full disclosure: I didn’t always handle this well. It had the makings of a frustrated smelly stew and I had difficulty swallowing it. What follows has positively impacted how I live — making life more than palatable. Life tastes good now, and it has to do with goals. About Big Goals Big goals are lovely. Big goals are exciting. Big goals grab the imagination. Big goals alone are useless. You know the goals I mean. ‘I’m going to write a book.’ ‘I’m going to learn to paint.’ ‘I want to learn to dance.’ ‘I’d love to be able to play piano.’ Many folks have a calling to spend more time being creative. This calling is in the deepest core of who we are. Sadly these goals get set aside and never happen. Regret So we sit in front of the screen and let the drug of mindlessness numb our hopes and dreams. While somewhere inside a voice is fading into the distance sighing, ‘I’d sure like to write that book.’ or ‘I wish I knew how to paint.’ If we allow this to continue, we will be choking on the smoky flames of regret. The week before she died at age 95, my Mom said to me, ‘I should have jitter-bugged.’ The jitter-bug was a wild dance style. Partners threw each other around a lot, and it was popular when Mom was a teen. That’s a long-reaching regret! Practically, this problem boils down to not finding the chunk of time that we assume is needed. Secondly, we don’t have the energy when the time does open up. There is something that helps with both. The Key Ingredient That one vital ingredient you need to improve your chance of reaching the big goal is; little goals. It works for me, and in over 25 years of teaching, I have seen it work for others. Little goals or little steps can wake up that reluctant brain and bring your dreams to life. It’s amazing what can be done in just 30 minutes. Your day might allow for that kind of time slot, especially once you experience it. It can be super worthwhile. The Hacksaw in a Cake — Practical Tips With just those few minutes, you can achieve a small step goal. For example… Sit down and make some chapter headings for your book. Or sit down and write one page. Don’t try to make it perfect. Editing can be a different 30-minute time slot later. Just write, because once you get into the creative mode, you will want to be 

Like you, I do a lot of adulting. And when I have had enough of that nonsense, I call on the child in me to come out and play. “High Five” — painting by Cheryl O Art What brings out the child in you? I know you are in there. Some call it spirit or soul. Some call it essence. Whatever you call it, we are who we are from our first to our final breath. Think about your earliest memories. Do you recognize yourself in those memories; what you thought and felt, or how you acted? It doesn’t matter your age, you are you. I find something comforting in knowing that I have always been, well, me. This is a consistent foundation that feels right and whole. It is one of those rare thoughts that makes me go ‘aaah’ and helps me let go of the tension that too often accompanies adulting. Keeping Afloat As you grow, your you-ness learns to be more expressive. A 5-year-old does not speak the same way as a 20-year-old. Perhaps less obviously, a 30-year-old does not speak the same way as a 60-year-old. Life does have its impacts, positive and negative. Sometimes life can wear you down. Responsibilities and the wearying fact that we must pay for our groceries, whatever that makes necessary. Some actions help us keep swimming above the constant flotsam of mind-numbing routines. Creativity helps. Creativity can be a doorway to setting free the child within. It’s a way of being alive to who we are. There is a reason people want to write a book, learn to paint, or be creative in some form. Instinctively, we know that it is in creative moments that we move toward being our true selves. And, even if only subconsciously, we know that to be our authentic selves means to be free. Free! Life Events Major events, traumatic and joyful, can impact us and leave an impression on our spirits. Like a pattern pressed onto the side of a clay pot, these can make us more beautiful. A few dents along the way are normal. When those dents begin to push us in directions we were never meant to stretch cracks happen. These wounds make us want to hide or to act in ways unnatural to our spirit. I’ve experienced some of those. I found these need to be tended to, perhaps with the help of a counselor, to find healing. Do not despair. If your heart is open, you can find your way to who you were meant to be. This journey may hurt for a while but it’s worth it for the freedom on the other side. Joyful events impact us too. You will know which ones fit with your essence. These are the ones that feel like they are giving you wings. Ones that encourage you to dream, reach, and be the best version of yourself possible. The people in your life can polarize like that too. Some go against the grain rubbing us the wrong way and taking us where we do not want to go such as, into a place of anger or frustration. Minimize your time with those people. Some give us a boost to better reach 

Life has both blessings and danger for those who care Painting by Cheryl O Art For those who are naturally more caring, life is full of tough decisions. Which causes will you support and how? I am not about to decide that for you. However, here are some considerations about caring. The Partial Fixes Emotions are catalysts for action. It’s how we are made. Feel something; react to it. Caring moves you to take action that can make another life less harsh, even if it is not a total fix. Caring about others fuels kindness, compassion, and empathy. This beautiful, broken world needs all the caring it can get. Caring is a precious commodity that should be nurtured and protected. If people didn’t care, there would be no charities. There are many good causes out there. Supporting those that are meaningful to you, makes the world a kinder place. You can research the integrity of any registered charity by requesting their financial statements. This will tell you what percent of your giving goes to the work you want to support, compared to other expenses. You don’t have to give to every cause. Thoughtful giving helps protect you from scams. When searching for ‘how to find a charity’s financial reports,’ Charity Navigator was just one of many available articles or organizations. The specific charity you are interested in supporting should not hesitate to provide you with this information as well. A thoughtful approach to caring on a personal level is wise too. Sustainable Caring Some folks despair and stop caring because, for example, there will always be those who are poor. Similarly, researching cures for many debilitating medical conditions can take years to bear fruit. In a time of instant gratification, accepting that some things can’t be quickly or completely fixed, can be extra challenging. The attrition of caring happens when the focus of kindness moves to a large general view, wanting bigger or quicker fixes. In contrast, a closer view encourages compassion. Considering the potential impact of the gift on the individual recipients brings a more sustainable meaning to giving. Giving can spark hope for individuals where there is none, even if the larger problem persists. Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.— Mother Teresa We each only have one day, one moment at a time. It is good to help someone’s moments be better than they might be without our help. That attitude helped me care for my father as his Alzheimer’s progressed. I knew Dad would not remember my visit, but I took comfort in the fact that for the time I was with him, I could make him smile. Right up to almost his last day, he would smile, pat my arm, and say, ‘It’s you, just you.’ Making those moments happy for him mattered. The Unfixables Some things can’t be fixed. Life is a mind-staggering miracle. Life is also a bitch. For most people, you don’t get to any number where the candles don’t fit well on the birthday cake without some unbearable hurt coming straight at you. When someone has a harsh diagnosis, when a much-loved friend or family member has passed away, these have 

A kinder way of being. Loving the Journey — acrylic painting by Cheryl O Art Welcoming is a wonderful thing. To be welcomed is to experience a genuine warmth; a comfort in belonging; a freedom to be yourself. Those who understand how to be welcoming shine their warmth on all who approach them. They are a living testament to a better way of life. Kindness and mercy are their compasses in all they do. The wounded struggle to embrace this way of being. They have learned to hide away, to fear sharing who they are. Who can blame them while the pain lingers? I cannot. I hid myself for many years. To be welcoming is to be bravely vulnerable. Unafraid to show one’s true self with all its flaws and glories. Encouraging others to do the same. There is hope. Hope that the brightness of those who understand welcoming can coax us from our cocoons. A mist rising to the sun, we long to unfurl wings we thought were only real in childhood dreams. Faith is needed when learning to fly. In sharing words, we reach to be welcoming to others during our brief stay. In listening to the words around us, we learn to welcome others. To be welcoming is a brave and kinder way of being. Be Welcome Here — a poem The water dazzles.It sparkles in unending motionWith kisses from the sun.Warmly I am absorbed into the love affair.The shore welcomes me.The wind whispers.Moving through the trees caressingThe leaves intimately.Softly I am absorbed into the love affair.The forest welcomes me.The bees dance.Nuzzling the beauty of the flowersCarrying the life source.Shyly I am absorbed into the love affair.The fields welcome me.I speak softly.My inadequate words exploringThese intimate moments.Read and be absorbed into the love affair.You are welcome here.Cheryl O Art Not everything I write is published on this blog. If you want to read more of my writings, you could connect with me on Substack. This platform is free to join. You will get 1 short (3-4 minute) video and 1 article per week emailed to you. Here is a link to my profile which shows other articles I have published on Substack. Cheryl O Art writes on Substack