Artists

I am not an artist, although I would love to be able to paint creatively.


As a child I received a Paint by Number set for Christmas or a birthday.  I remember looking at the cardboard canvas and seeing faint blue lines with numbers inside the lines. Each number corresponded to a small container of paint lodged in a cardboard palette. I can still remember the aroma of the paint even though it is over 40 years ago.

Admonished to "stay in the lines," I embarked on a career as a "paint by number" artist.  Do you know how hard it is to "stay in the lines?" Kinda takes all of the fun out of being creative.


My finished project didn't even come close to resembling the photograph on the outside of the box. It more closely resembled the work of Salvador Dali or Andy Warhol.


All of this got me thinking about creativity. Although I did not know what to do with the colors in the cardboard palette, I intuitively knew they could be assembled into a masterpiece by the right artist.  


Many of us live our lives in a "paint by number" world and miss incredible opportunities to paint outside the lines creatively.


One of my favorite books is by Gordon MacKenzie entitled, Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace." He closes the book with a stunning statement...

You have a masterpiece, inside you, too, you know.

One unlike any that has ever been created, or ever will be.

And remember,

If you go to your grave 

without painting

your masterpiece, 

it will not

get painted.

No one else

can paint it.

Only you.

So go ahead, hang some signs that say, "Wet Paint" and be creative. After all, you're an Artist!