And How I Try To Avoid Them...
Mixed Media Monday wants artwork that tells a story, and here's mine:
When I was in my late teens, I was in an automobile accident that left me with a year of back and neck pain. Besides physical therapy, my ballet teacher helped me work out the kinks in my muscles, and after a very discouraging afternoon of what felt like torture in the dance studio, I told her that I needed her best advice. She said she'd be happy to give it to me, but warned me that her best advice had nothing at all to do with ballet. I told her to go ahead and give it to me, and this is what she said: "At all costs, whenever you're able, avoid routine, and years from now, when you're no longer as flexible in body, your mind will be sharp and you will always be flexible in life."
For some reason, I really took that to heart. I learned to vary my diet, to try new things, to listen to music that I didn't especially like to see if I could hear something of what the people who enjoyed it were hearing. I tried to make decisions that would expand my horizons rather than feed my comfort, and when I found myself avoiding my comfort zone too often, I'd go back and spend some comfort time to keep from forming an opposite habit. I quit smoking and vowed not to let my habits control me. And gradually, without trying or realizing it, I became a good, confident public speaker and writer, my body gained strength and my artwork improved by leaps and bounds. In addition to going to school full-time and working on the weekends, I read and drew for pleasure everyday as well as for classes. Work and school were routines of course, but in my free time, I made sure that I did not fall victim to any set and predictable schedule. I consciously varied my activities.
Today's journal page pays homage to that simple way of thinking which has opened so many doors for me. I am not limited by common thought, and when I subscribe to it, it is by choice, not because I have a need to do what is expected. I may not be able to bend my body the way I could at 19, but I'm still reaping the benefits of that ballet class, because I learned to bend with the times without breaking my back to follow the crowd.
Have a great day, Everyone!
