Must we always do things we’ve always done just because we’ve always done them?
I used to cook. And decorate the food.
When Wes and I were first married, I learned to cook on a budget because money was definitely scarce, and much of what little we both made as teachers had to be saved to buy furniture — and later a home.
But I cooked! I got very creative with chicken and hamburger. And not just with recipes…
I learned how to present food! That just means I arranged it on inexpensive plates so you’d not notice the plates so much. And made centerpieces of wildflowers — weeds? — and driftwood.
We invited new friends over and fed them pretty food. Still chicken, or budget cuts of beef, but pretty!
When our girls came along I continued to create meals, ever experimenting with new tastes, new looks. (The artist in me has always wanted to speak.)
I don’t cook pretty anymore though… What happened?
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Sketched and painted in Corel Painter |
Now when the kids come over on Sundays, lunch is usually pick-up-style. Hot soups and stews in cold weather. Sandwiches and cookouts in warm. With nibblies and extras on the side…
Yummy — but rarely pretty. Rarely creative!
Friends are still and always welcome — but they get coffee and nibblies. Or wine and nibblies. We go out for dinner!
Things change as we change.
My girls grew up………………………
Wes and I found out how much fun it is to share a meal without having fixed it. Or having to clean up afterwards. Besides, we have better conversations when we go out to eat. Just the two of us. That’s fun.
I still need to create. That hasn’t changed. But my way of expressing it has…
I’d been dabbling in oils and watercolors and doodling with pens for many years. I love watching people, their emotions, un-asked questions, pieces of their personalities manifested across their faces and in their posture.
Body language really does have a lot to say if we take the time to listen to what we see.
I wanted to capture that with my brushes. And I started searching for portrait artists who could teach me. Both locally and on the Internet.
Then in April, 2006, I met Corel Painter software and the Wacom Intuos 3 Tablet in a week-long workshop taught by Jerry Schuster in Durham, North Carolina.
This was my first digital oil painting, my first experience using Painter. Jamie — at age 12 — put on her mom’s sweater and sunglasses and posed. I took a lot of liberties, using more than one photo to get what I saw in my mind, and Jerry printed it out for me on a 16×20 inch canvas.
I’ve been hooked ever since on all things Painter, and everyday I learn something new. I’d far rather discover something with my paints than cook!
Will this change too?
Probably — because I keep learning and growing and experimenting and creating.
For me, change is a forward motion. Circumstance sometimes requires it, but just as often, we require it. We change as we grow………………….. we move on.
What do you think?
What has changed as you move forward?
Barb
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the picture. And the blog name.
I’ve become somewhat less patient as the years have gone on. On the other hand, I’ve become less of a doormat as well. 
LuAnn’s last blog post..Mr. Snugglebutt – The Mighty Hunter
Hi LuAnn. Thank you! I find I’m impatient about different things than I used to be, and at once more tolerant and less tolerant. (That’s not as at-odds as it sounds.) How about you?
Hi J.D. I also am a fan of growth, love to explore, experiment, and push myself. And I need to go read Is Will a Skill? Sounds intriguing.
I’m a fan of follow the growth. I used to hold on to things, but the more I let go and try new things, the more I enjoy experimenting, learning and testing my limits.
That said, there’s some things I like to keep doing to ‘master my craft.”
J.D. Meier’s last blog post..Is Will a Skill?
Lovely portrait of Jaime. I share your evolution with cooking and food, and also with the discovery of Painter. The one thing that I know is constant is the need to create with whatever tools are available – camera, pastels, acrylics, oils – on and on! I can take food off the list. I’m over cooking!
Hi Karol Grace. Thank you. Love your comment and relate to it. I saw your studio on Studio Shots and drooled over it… What a wonderful place to play.
Hi Swati. It IS the creativity that allows us to enjoy cooking. I agree.
Ahhh Patricia… I love your stories. Adapting to who you need to be at any point in your life — that’s a key ingredient to living fully, I think. Adapting, but not defining in a limited way. Staying free to pursue your own what’s next is ideal. I like your outlook, Patricia — life really does matter, one day at a time. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Davina. I know what you mean about losing some of the words. I used to write it all. Looking back over some early writings now is just comical. I’m learning too to cut, revise, rearrange, edit some more, and look at it cold before submitting. But this is what you do, isn’t it? Are you not an editor by profession?
Thanks so much for sharing.
Well, I have learned to like cooking – almost! It still is a bore chore, but sometimes I get creative with it, and that is fun
I like to think of my life as “chapters”, young girl, student, young married professional, young mother, experienced mother, empty nester, etc. Each “chapter” seems to be a different person as I adapt to the be what I need to be.
My oldest, who at the time we only gt to see a few times a year, asked me once, “What happened to my Mom?” This was when we only had our daughter at home, and she was in high school, therefore my “freedom” chapter. I told him I no longer had all the responsible, so I was now free to be myself!
Now I am in what I think of as my “senior” chapter – hubby & I have learned to quit putting things off, and take time to travel, to play with the grandkids. And, finally, time to indulge my creative side with my photography and digital art.
Is there another chapter coming? Certainly, although I have no idea what will change next. I have learned to simply take each day as it comes, and to indulge myself by allowing myself to enjoy it in whatever way I can.
Hi Barb. I’ve always believed… well experienced… that food tastes better when presented in an artful way. Must be all that TLC that goes into its preparation. What has changed for me? Since starting blogging almost a year ago, I’ve learned to detach myself from every word that lands. The ego doesn’t enjoy this, but editing and massaging each post is quite an exercise, and one I personally enjoy.
Davina’s last blog post..Heads Up — Beware of Crows!
I’ve just finished reading Roger Scruton’s essay “Beauty and Desecration” in the spring issue of the City Journal (http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_2_beauty.html), and I thought of your post when I read this passage:
“Here is another example: it is a special occasion, when the family unites for a ceremonial dinner. You set the table with a clean embroidered cloth, arranging plates, glasses, bread in a basket, and some carafes of water and wine. You do this lovingly, delighting in the appearance, striving for an effect of cleanliness, simplicity, symmetry, and warmth. The table has become a symbol of homecoming, of the extended arms of the universal mother, inviting her children in. And all this abundance of meaning and good cheer is somehow contained in the appearance of the table. This, too, is an experience of beauty, one that we encounter, in some version or other, every day. We are needy creatures, and our greatest need is for home—the place where we are, where we find protection and love. We achieve this home through representations of our own belonging, not alone but in conjunction with others. All our attempts to make our surroundings look right—through decorating, arranging, creating—are attempts to extend a welcome to ourselves and to those whom we love.”
As to change, Scruton goes on to decry the desecration of beauty to achieve shocking originality. I thank you for your faithfulness to the former.
Terro’s last blog post..Trickle Down Learning
Hi Terro.
Roger Scruton’s writing is beautiful. Thank you so much for including it here. It’s exactly how I felt all those years I did cook. Even now, at holidays, the chaos gets organized, table favors as well as little centerpieces for each table are made, and sometimes even place cards. Thanksgiving is a special time in my memory. My grandmother had all of us there for evening dinner. Card tables were in all the rooms, dressed with lace cloths and flowers. The food aromas were to die for. This is the Thanksgiving I give to my family every year, and think lovingly of my grandma. (Only I don’t do lace.)
The rest of the year it’s just food and fun…
Hi Barb,
First, I think it’s very important that we do move forward and not stay stagnant. Like you said, growth is a forward motion.
As I’ve moved forward, I find myself concentrating more on my creative side, versus my “collective” side. I’m no longer into “things”, but experiences and creating memories.
As I write this, I’m thinking of how we’re having our annual neighborhood garage sale this weekend. I’ve been brutal as I’ve gone through the house, letting go of “stuff” that seems to be weighing me down. Oh, how light I’ll feel come Sunday.
Barbara Swafford´s last blog ..How Writing Catchy Titles May Hurt Our Blog