Predictability and Controllability of Life Events

This is the view from my studio, looking out the bay window at the historic Phoenix Firehouse Tower in downtown Chillicothe. I love the evening sky, in fact I love the sky at any time of day and no matter the weather! It's also a great place to watch the moon, which goes for a ride arcing over the tower as it rises.

Have you ever tried painting or drawing in the dark? It's like drawing blindfolded, except I can see the object I'm trying to draw, even if I can't see what kind of marks I'm making!

Sometimes we go through life with blinders on, or feel blindsided - the reality is that we are missing something. How do we improve our peripheral vision of reality? Try drawing in the dark, or without looking at the paper. See what happens. It forces you to think more about what you are seeing, what you can't see, and what your hand is doing, using sensations we normally don't pay attention to.

I have to admit - I was both blindsided and blind to the obvious recently, much to my dismay. Being blind is a disadvantage, and I can hardly take solace in the fact that I was helping someone in the process, because it was at my expense. But what if I hurt someone without intending to, because of my blindness? I would surely hope to be able to make amends. How do we overcome blindness? I don't like being in the dark, feeling lost, like a night traveler without a moon to cast any light on the path.

That's what life without faith is like. There's no way we can possibly see and know everything. We have to have faith. And so I will paint in the dark, and look for the light.

I will post my paintings by the light of the moon...soon!

~ellen. 

Illustration:  "Studio View", Photo by Ellen Doerres © 2009.