A to Z, 2012-- H is for...

Happiness.

Okay, so I'm going to go all corny on all of you. There's this song from a musical, "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" that is incredibly sweet-- so sweet, in fact, that it's probably been linked to tooth decay. And possibly diabetes.

(Please excuse the video's warbly singing indicative of an adult pretending to be a child. While the voices are not as polished as I would prefer, the accompanying animation more than makes up for it.)

For me, the best part is the last line of the song-- "Happiness is anyone and anything at all that's loved by you."

See, it's easy to get caught up in sadness. When you have a chronic condition of ANY kind, when you're constantly reminded of what you can't accomplish, or the disparity between how your life is and how you want it to be, it's easy to let the negative things in life truly take over. And those of you who know me, know that I'm not just some overly optimistic Pollyanna speaking hypothetically-- I know more than most just how hard it is to accomplish this. When life throws major wrenches your way, it's hard to stay happy while you're constantly ducking!

But even when life is at its worst, this song never fails to teach and re-teach me that while there might be things out of my control, there is always something good to balance out the bad. The song is a lesson in counting your blessings, a fresh reminder that the small things in life actually do matter.

My happiness for today-- my metaphorical "tying a shoe for the very first time", to quote the song-- is a new twirly skirt that has pockets. It was a gift from the "Easter Bunny", found in my basket from yesterday. Floor length, flowy, made from cotton, and (of course!) blue with white ferns fanning out in all directions. Perfect for a spring day, and the kind of thing that made me smile from head to toe just thinking about it!

What is YOUR happiness-- in other words, your metaphorical "pizza with sausage"? What made you smile today, even for a split second?

A to Z, 2012-- G is for...

Genuine.

The word "genuine" means (paraphrased from a few online dictionary definitions) something that is truly what one says it to be. The word stands for the sincerity of person, emotion, or action.
I am sure that many would like to know-- why is an artist writing about sincerity, about being genuine?

I believe that it is the role of an artist to share his or her special vision in the world. I believe that everything that this artist does needs to reflect this vision, which in turn is actually a reflection of the soul.

And  perhaps most importantly of all, I believe that an artist is compelled to share his or her vision and soul with others in a tangible way. It is the sincerity behind this depiction that draws us into the artist's world. It is the genuineness of this expression-- the person, the emotion, the action, the place, the idea, or whatever else this expression is-- that allows others to see what the artist sees. It is this genuineness that causes an artist's work to resonate within each one of us who are lucky enough to experience it.


A genuine artist creates things that sincerely stand for his or her vision. And without that element of genuine truth, the art loses its substance. And a creation without substance is not art at all, but merely strokes of color on a piece of paper.

One of my all-time favorite paintings. I love Van Gogh, and love both his use of color here and the brush strokes used for his iconic effect! This is one of the paintings that truly inspires me~ and I would argue that Van Gogh was a master of genuine creation.

The key to being an artist is being genuine in what you do. I firmly believe that when an artist says that he or she always tries to stay true to himself or herself, that this is what they truly mean by that.

How do YOU stay genuine in all that you do?