Pentimento

Today I’m grateful for art and layers

Pentimento is one of my favorite words. It has so many layers to it that are waiting to be peeled back and searched. Pentimento is a visible trace of an earlier painting beneath a layer or layers of paint on a canvas. An original idea that was replaced by a new and often better idea.

I love art. I love to look at it and create it. I see art in mountains, sunsets, the ocean. I hear art in people, music, and stories. Life is art and pentimento shows change and the beauty that can come from it. I knew what my life would look like. What it needed to look like to fit the model of ‘perfect.’ My life has changed direction so many times. My original thought or direction would change because of circumstance or choice. Some changes in direction I am grateful for, some taught me valuable lessons, some were painful. Some things came to fruition, some didn’t, and I made a lot of mistakes. Sometimes I think about choices made and what my life would look like if I had made better choices. Each choice, lesson, mistake was teaching me. Sometimes, I find myself staring at past mistakes and have to remind myself that if I stare at the past, I miss the beauty of now.

I am grateful for the thoughts and examples of others. I am grateful for the stories that have helped shape me into the person I am today. I am grateful for teachers that have opened my eyes to the beauty in art, symbolism in books, and stories of classical composers. I am grateful for traditions and the stories they tell. I am grateful for friends that share their layers and give a new perspective to life. I am grateful for my mistakes and the ability to learn and grow from them and when necessary repent. I am grateful for what was, loving what is, and looking forward with eagerness at what will come. I am grateful for the peace that can come from art, both in creating and enjoying. I have been blessed to have so many amazing people cross my path that will peel back their layers and teach me. I am grateful for the pentimento of life and the knowledge that change can send us down the path we were always meant to travel.

Novembr 27, 2020

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