Feature Article: Forget IT

I thought I knew what I was going to write about, but then I forgot it, so where does that leave us?

Reality. I'm not a wedding kind of person. In fact, I could easily make a list of 500 things I would rather do than go to almost any wedding, just ask my sisters.

I dislike getting dressed up to spend time with people I don't know. And making light social conversation with COMPLETE strangers isn't the easiest thing for me to do.

One weekend, I found myself in Tulsa, Oklahoma right smack in the middle of a wedding. After a very moving ceremony, a reception was held in a hotel in downtown Tulsa. 

Since I traveled from Atlanta to Tulsa, I guess the bride and groom felt as if I should get VIP treatment. I was seated next to the minister who performed the wedding ceremony.

I remember that I was interested in our conversation and the general tone of the conversation, but the exact details, I forgot. Sorry again, this still isn't what this article is about.

I was distracted by the woman across the table. I kept staring at her. Actually, the top of her head caught my attention. Her hair was spiked and about 90% purple, and 10% brown.

Call it curiosity, but I felt compelled to initiate a conversation. As the bride came by to say hello, I asked to be introduced to the woman on the other side of the table.

After we were introduced, I was invited to pull up an empty chair next to my new acquaintance, Mary.  After about 23 seconds, I found myself completely engrossed in our conversation.

Mary was (and I'm guessing she still is) an artist. She painted custom pieces in people's homes. She painted murals directly onto walls.

I was fascinated by her as a person and her work, so our conversation was easy. I have no recollection of how exactly we arrived at this point in our conversation, but the Mary shared some of her personal experiences as an artist.

Mary said that she would often go into people's homes and notice a painting on someone's wall. Apparently she enjoyed these "other people's paintings" so much, she would compliment the owner and the artist by saying something like, "that is a really nice painting, who did that?"

The homeowner would look at Mary oddly and reply in confusion, "you did."

Mary was as surprised in the response as the homeowner was in the question!

Honestly, Mary didn't seem like the kind of person who would walk around pretending she forgot what she did, so she could compliment herself later. :-)

Instead it seemed to me that Mary actually FORGOT that she had painted these pieces.

Wow!

Mary wasn't attached to the work she did in the past. So unattached, in fact, that she didn't even recognize it!

I think about all the professional work I've done in the past. How proud I've been of it. How much I've struggled to "accomplish" it. And how tightly I hold on to it, whether I'm currently interested in it or not.

Can you relate?

Mary taught me another option. I learned (through her candidness) that it is ok to put your best work out into the world AND then move on. It is ok to reinvent yourself often. And not being attached to the past is fine. 

Very, very interesting indeed.

Just so I'm clear, I'm being intentionally ambiguous. I don't need tell you or give you an example of what you need to forget. YOU already know. Just try this:

Be open to this instant. See with fresh eyes. Let go of rather than to hold on to. Enjoy creating. Move on.

Reinvent yourself NOW!

:-)

p.s. Please share your comments by sending me an email.

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