(credit: Rex Masters Twitter)
We had taken down some artwork when we switched around our bedrooms this past spring. There was a print that had been hanging in my daughter’s room, which I had always liked, but she considered it too childish for her evolving teenage tastes. The print had been done by an artist from the past, named H. Willebeek Lemair. Lemair was a Dutch artist who later changed her name to “Saida.” Her artwork mostly depicts women and children and has a fanciful, cartoonish quality.
The wonderful thing about the internet, is that it is like having an art gallery right in the palm of your hands. The picture inspired me to peruse the internet for other pieces of Lemair’s art, which lead me to artists who had similar styles of painting, to hers. I started printing out any pictures which I really liked, to paste into my calendar and into my inspirational notebooks. In the end, I had a little pile of about ten pictures that moved me. What turned out to be the biggest surprise of my little exercise, was the insight which I received when I looked through the pictures that I had printed out. I thought that I had printed the artwork, with no real rhyme or reason. They were just individual pictures that had visually moved me, more than any others which I had perused. Interestingly, it turns out that the majority of the paintings (created by a variety of artists), depicted young women reading books. All but one of the pictures, had at least one book as a focal point in the painting. Unbeknownst to the conscious part of me, there was a real, true “theme” to my collection.
I think that our passions and purposes, pop out of us, every which way they can. Our passions are hard to contain, even when we try to tamp them down or to change them. The deepest part of ourselves sends hints to us, all of the time, if we take the time to be “self sleuths.” I have read that if you are having trouble figuring out your deepest passions and motivations, try to remember what you most liked to do as a child. When we were children, we were less conditioned by our experiences and the world around us. Our passions played more innocently on the surface, when we were young kids. Follow what really grasps your attention during your daily activities, and ask yourself “why?” and then, take your time to explore the answer. Keep a dream journal. Our subconscious is quiet, but persistent. It begs to be noticed, if we look for the clues.
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.