A Work In Progress...

 

A work in progress...

It's a term that is used in art a lot.

For a piece like the one above I start with a blank surface.

Stark white watercolor paper.

I take a pencil and lightly draw on a design.

Not all of the details - but a general outline.

Then I begin laying in the black lines - not all of them, but some.

Then comes color (my favorite part).

I layer it in.

I move all over the paper - because if you understand how watercolors work, you know they are very unpredictable.

You have to wait until each section dries before putting another color next to it or they will blend.

All on their own.

Whether you want them to or not.

Then once everything is colored and very dry...

I go back with the black and finish out the details and the words.

Often, I don't have a plan when I start.

And throughout the early stages 

the "work in progress" looks very plain and not very special.

But it builds and grows.

 

I have always believed that as people,

we are in constant motion.

I have taught my children that.

We are either moving forward and growing,

or we are slipping backwards.

But we are never stagnant and still.

We are not the same person today that we were yesterday.

We are "works in progress".

But too often we think that some magical event occurs as an adult that causes us to say...

"I'm done. I have arrived where I want to be..."

 

As an adult who is ... well, old enough to have experienced many things -

I often wonder where I will be in another year.

Do I still have the ability to grow and learn new things?

Am I moving forward or am I slipping?

Am I "done?"

 

So I have spent some time thinking about this and I came up with this list:

 

Ten things I have done in the last year that I was not doing before that...

 

1. I have returned to swimming on a regular basis.

2. I have started a belly dancing class (which I have always wanted to do and LOVE by the way).

3. I signed up for a choir class at the College where I work and have been singing with a group of 30 other students every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on my lunch hour. I am old enough to be most of the other student's mother, but I am loving having a chance to sing with a group.

4. I am learning to sing in 4 different languages  - which I have never done before. This is definitely challenging my "adult" brain.

5. I have purchased a ukulele and have learned several chords and a few songs.

6. I have become acquatined with new friends ...some in other countries.

7. I have learned to cook vegetarian meals to support my daughter.

8. I have attended several musical performances and have tickets for several concerts over the next few months.

9. I have returned to a habit of stretching and yoga.

10. I have begun to find my balance and each day am finding peace with being "alone".

 

So I guess you could say that

I am a work in progress.

I am adding multiple layers to my life.

I am becoming reacquainted with things that I had stopped doing (like playing the piano and singing in a choir)...

and I am trying out new things and meeting new people.

 

My hope and desire is that I will never be a completed work of art.

I don't want to ever be in the position where I just stay in one place and decorate the room.

I want to be an ongoing work in progress for the rest of my days...