How Do You See the World?

An artist will see the contrast in the snow. Look at how blue the shadows are here, yet our minds say snow is snow and snow is white. However, this isn’t how it comes across.

When I first started painting another artist told me that I would never see the world in the same way again. She was right. Usually, a person sees a tree and immediately the mind gives it a label - tree. This label was given long ago when the person was just a baby. Because of the “label” It’s easy for the person to not really see the tree so much, rather they simply attach that preconceived label to it without really thinking much about it. This is the logical mind at work at its finest. But when you have the mind of a creative, be it artist, photographer, poet, etc., the tree is way more than a word that says trunk with limbs and leaves. The creative mind sees the tree as a majestic creature, full of life and beauty. A home for tiny creatures, a map in the forest, or a landmark for the traveler. That creative mind knows that the old tree has been around awhile and has lots of stories to tell if only it could. It sees so much more than TREE.

If I were to ask you what color is a tree, what would you guess? Most would say brown and green. We are taught early on that tree trunks are brown, but are they? No, not usually. I find most of the trees around here are more of a gray color. And when one thinks of the foliage, it’s likely that your logical mind just went - “tree green.” Right? We know the color of leaves change with with seasons, but they also change according to what time of day it is. In the morning sun, leaves may be a beautiful golden color, yet silhouetted against the late afternoon sun the leaves and trunk for that matter will look almost a deep purple.

If you were asked to draw a chair, how would you go about it? Would you draw four legs perfectly spaced and even? That’s what I would have once attempted. Our logical minds tell us that all the legs are even so that’s what we try to draw, and then we see what a mess that makes in the end. Go look at a chair near you with legs and tell me what you really see. Likely, depending on your perspective you see some legs hidden and others appear shorter than the others. And they certainly aren’t evenly spaced.

Years ago I read the book by Betty Edwards called, Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain. In it, she asked the reader to draw a picture that is upside down. She says don’t try to think about what it is, just draw the lines you see. One at a time, just draw what you actually see.

So I carefully started drawing lines purposely trying not to let my mind “see” what it was I was drawing. I think I may have even covered some of it up and worked on small bits at a time.

After completing this exercise I was amazed. It wasn’t perfect, but when I turned the completed drawing upright, it was a man sitting in a chair with glasses and wearing a suit — wrinkles and all. Had someone suggested at that time that I try to draw that image I would have laughed. And yet I was able to do it upside down because I didn’t let my logical brain interfere. Pretty amazing, huh?

And this doesn’t just apply to painting and drawing. It is about how we see the world in general. How are you looking at the world? Is it clouded by negativity or doubt and pain? Did you know that even colors can look different when you are grieving? Jimmy and I went through a difficult time years back, and he once said, even this place (meaning our yard with lots of trees and a view of the mountains that is normally gorgeous) isn’t pretty anymore to me. I understood perfectly, because I didn’t see the beauty that is always here at that time either.

It’s very interesting to me that we see the world from out of our current mindset — whether that be positive or negative. As we go into the winter season, the days are darker and it’s not the most beautiful time of the year for most of us. But what if we focused more on what IS good about winter — things like winter sunrises, or sitting by a fire, or the feel of that favorite cozy sweater or blanket? And there is something about a winter sky with the backdrop of bare trees that is also very beautiful. And snow! Snow is simply magical and a kid’s dream. Even a big kid like me! To see the beauty of winter might just help us to see what is normally thought of as the bleakest season not so bleak but rather vibrant and refreshing. It’s all in how we look at it and every other thing in our lives as well. Again, as someone who (aside from snow) isn’t a fan of winter, I’m speaking to myself here! Some of you may already love winter and if you do, you likely see all of these things already. It is ME and others like me who need a mindset change to get past our negativity about this time of year.

Staying positive isn’t always easy, and sometimes, like during periods of grief it’s almost impossible. But no matter our circumstances, if we stop the negative noise in our heads and truly see with our hearts as well as our eyes, a whole new and more beautiful world might just open up.

What are you seeing today?

Sending my best,

Connie