However, I do try to “paint” with my words. Bishop Barron, in his “Catholicism” series, explains a painting by Seurat’s, “Grande Jatte and Circus”, that if you place your nose against the image you would see color, but no shape or form. You must step back to be able to take in the whole image.

That’s how life is. If we are too close we cannot see the whole picture in order to assess the situation and know how to move forward. Because I know my goal is to move forward, closer to God.

While I paint, and during all stages of my work, I place my work in progress on an easel, walk away, close my eyes, and return my gaze to the image.

By doing this step, I’m able to see if the image is progressing, if it’s in balance, if the colors are complimenting one another, and what my next step will be.

I don’t wait until, I’m almost done, I do it constantly throughout the progress of the painting. I get frustrated, impatient, and angry because it’s not going the way I want it to. I get mad because it’s not “perfect” and then comes the stages of avoiding because I don’t know how to move forward; how to right the wrong; how to continue.

This is so much like life. I’ve tried to incorporate this method into my daily life. As I begin to tackle the day (the painting) I put my “yesterday” on an easel, I step back and close my eyes in prayer (to clear my mind of the previous image I had stored) and I assess what’s the next step I need to take to balance my life; to add color and to fix what needs to be fixed...all for the glory and honor of God-even my paintings. And I certainly don’t want to wait to do this process until the painting of my life is complete. I’d rather have worked hard to present the best image of myself to God.