Today, I complete my 36th year on this Earth, in this body.
I remember when I was 24, watching a talk online by an artist. She had slides being projected up front as she spoke. I don’t remember her name. I don’t remember the topic she was speaking about.
What I do remember is that at one point, she projected a photo of one of her first paintings. And she made fun of how “bad” it was, cringing to the audience, expressing embarrassment at everyone seeing this early work as she skipped ahead to the next slide. Audience members laughed as the speaker expressed her distaste.
My body recoiled.
It felt so wrong to turn on a creation and belittle it. A creation that your body brought into existence, in a context of a time past. A creation through which you explored, became, were changed, and thus affected the entire Great Web.
I knew then, in my bones: I will celebrate the first!
The playfulness, the curiosity and exploration. The courage, when it’s required, to try something you’ve never tried before, and see what it feels like in your body.
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Not having an audience helps me be more present to my experience, to playfully create, listen to the whispers, and have Many Firsts! And, for the purpose of the message, I’ll gladly share:
My first time playing with watercolors as an adult, in 2015: