Combining Words Into Color Palettes

Lately, my mind's felt a bit like a tangled pair of headphones, and I've been thinking a lot about the things I tell myself I can and can't do. Today was another gray day in Vermont, and I was driving with my jaw clenched.

When I was a kid, I would've told you I was definitely not artistic (despite secretly wishing I were). If asked whether or not I liked to make art, I'd have thought of my step sister, Ali, and of how she drew any chance she got. She'd doodle while holding a full conversation with you; moving her pencil without thinking. In fact, sometimes it was almost like she couldn't have a conversation unless she was drawing. No, when asked if I liked to make art, I'd go searching for evidence.

Did I like to make art? Well, ok wait—

What do they mean by "art"?

I'd have combed through memories of Ali sketching while Danny and I played Madden before reasoning that liking to make art was reserved for creative people like her. I'd think of drawings depicting people and places from her life. Like the soccer fields on South Street. Or, even Pikachu from Pokémon. "People who like to make art know how to draw" I'd have said before adding, "and I can't." 

As I drove, I thought of what I'd say to my younger self. Because it'd never have occurred to that kid to think of the songs he'd written, the impersonations he'd performed, or the plays he'd put together. For some reason, combining words into color palettes didn't count as creative to him. He couldn't see his own art.

Sometimes he still can't.

And so, we keep trying.

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Our Daily MAP Year Prompt
151/365

When's the last time you ran into your own limiting belief before realizing you could move it?

onward.

If you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along. And if something stuck with you while reading, I'd love to know what it was. For more on this daily column and The MAP Year Project, read the backstory here.