Dear reader, I cannot stop drawing this girl. Or this dress. More specifically, the color of this dress. This color, to me, is like a sparkly object to a magpie. I cannot resist it. I swoop out of the sky to peck at it whenever this color catches my attention.
I sometimes think, wouldn't it be nice to try something different? Perhaps a pretty yellow dress with a charcoal cardigan and candy striped tights?
But when it comes time to mix the paints, to make a committment, I begin to feel strangely recalcitrant.
I want blue.
I want blue and nothing else is going to make me happy. Oh dear, I can feel a tantrum coming on! There now, I tell myself, hastily pouring and mixing a mesmerizing shade of turquoise, everything's going to be okay.
And as I watch this glorious color seep across the paper, my heart soars, the air seems sweeter, and everything does begin to feel okay.
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Dear reader, it's Valentine's Day weekend! I know I've already chattered on at length about this day, but I'm not sure if I've taken the time to say what it means to me now, at this point in my life. I still have such a fond place in my heart for the notion of romance and all the delightful thrills that come from having an admirer, a suitor, a gentleman caller. I still celebrate the spirit of all that.
But now Valentine's Day reminds me more of the importance of love in general. Particularly, of putting it out there. Of letting as many people as possible know I think they are amazing, grand, and dear to me. I am not especially taken with the idea of a commercial holiday as much as I cherish the thought that this time of year represents how I should make others feel on a daily basis: happy, safe, optimistic, and always a little bit enchanted with life.
What could be better than knowing you had such an effect on people, especially those you hold dear?
So I'm working on it. There are moments when I would never want you to ask my kids if Mummy makes them feel safe, moments when they cannot stop minding each other's business and the bathroom floor is covered in wet towels and someone secretly tossed her dinner in the garbage but didn't have the decency to make an accurate deposit.
Do you have those moments?
But there are also many glorious moments. Moments of taking dinner to a neighbor across the street. Moments of delightful visits with little old men in line at the post office. Moments of bedtime stories with the girls, of wrapping caramels together and singing around the piano and having the best conversations on the way to music lessons. Moments of watching them bloom. And moments of seeing my husband at the end of a day and almost never feeling anything but admiration and love for him.
(Unfortunately, the use of almost in that last sentence refers mainly to my own shortcomings and rarely to his...)
Am I still talking? Because this was meant to be a simple giveaway. I should never sit down to write when I'm feeling tired because my thoughts tend to wander all over the place, more so than usual.
To get back on track, this is an original watercolor and her name is Willa. How she would love to come visit you, with her achingly pretty sky blue dress and little Valentine slippers.
If you would like to play along, simply leave a comment at the bottom of this post. Oh, please do! And have a sweet and wonderful Valentine's weekend. I hope you are reminded how amazing you are and how very much you are loved...
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eta: Dear reader, as usual I am enjoying your comments very much~some make me smile, some tug at my heart, the odes to blue, the thoughtful comments on love. This one from Beth, so beautifully expressed, seems such a pearl of wisdom that I wanted to pull it out and share it with you:
Here is what I have been thinking about today: there are so many things to love and ways to be loving, it's pretty clear we are meant to love and show love, and when something is out of sorts in my world or my mood, acting lovingly is a good first step toward putting things back together.
Thanks for those illuminating words, Beth. Can I get that on a bumper sticker or what?