Happy Saturday my friend!

I hope you had a great week! I'm busy with art and sunshine here in the desert.

Since my last note to you, I've taken THREE art classes! :) Here are the results:

Class #1 - Oil Pastels: (Teacher led, I know the shadows are all wrong - it was an exercise in technique - thus the mis-lighted finished product.) :)

Verdict: Love the color, but the process is super MESSY. I'll probably use the oil pastels for accent, but I can't see myself spending much time mastering them. Maybe later on my journey, but not now.

Class #2 - Gouache - pronounced "Gwash" - which is kind of an opaque watercolor:

Verdict: This medium (product) feels really different to use. It dries out almost as you're using it (especially here in Arizona) and I couldn't seem to get the hang of it. Also, it's a super matt finish - not shiny at all - which is not my favorite. I might use this if I need something more opaque in my watercolors...just not sure how I'll add it in on the regular.

And finally,

Class #3 - Regular Pastels (kind of chalk like with intense color):

Verdict: VERY messy. But I'll probably invest in some good pastels and use them when I'm plein air painting back in Texas. I'd like to get some skill with these.

Why am I sharing all these "beginner" photos?

Because the big lesson I learned this week came in the form of a question, and here it is:

Are you willing to be a beginner?

You know - like in kindergarten. Nothing you do will be perfect. It will be messy. There will be mistakes. It will have its own kind of strange beauty, but it probably won't be like you imagined it in your mind.

So whether you're trying something new like art, like I am, or you're learning a new language, or you've decided to become a knitter, not matter what it is, you will have to be willing to be IMPERFECT before you gain any sort of mastery.

And for many of us, that's super scary. In fact, some people refuse to allow themselves to be a beginner - they try it once, and when the feelings that follow imperfection rise up - they are so uncomfortable they quit.

Like my mahjong experience. I tried it--I actually tried it about 4 times. I wasn't very good and more importantly, I didn't like - dare say - I HATED the actual playing of the game, and decided that was it for me

And that's ok. That's all part of the process. No more mahjong for Christy.

But if you're trying, then quitting something because even though you like the new thing, you just can't allow yourself to be imperfect rather than actually not liking the new thing itself, may I challenge you to open yourself to the uncomfortableness that is growth.

The older we get, the more important it is to try new things and give our brains new neural pathways to learn. There's a ton of science on this, so if you're curious about it, do a deep dive on that alone.

But for me this week, just the recognition that I had to be willing to be uncomfortable with the imperfection in order to get better at something I'm genuinely loving was a huge, wonderful, very freeing moment.

I'll leave you with some acutally EXCELLENT art to look at which we got to enjoy at the Phoenix Art Museum yesterday:

and of course...

and the best of all...

I hope you have a wonderful day today - Valentine's Day! Just in case you don't get one of these, please remember this:

Love you so much and cheering you on!

Christy :)

P.S. I'd love to hear what new thing you are working on - just hit reply and let me know. xoxo