Thanksgiving

Four of my collages at River Crest country club in Fort Worth

OK, I am at the hotel, got all my walking and warmups in for the day and we are headed over to my brother’s house in about an hour. I have a little time to dream up an article or at least the start of one.

Thankfulness and gratitude are always good and obvious subjects on Thanksgiving day and any other day for that matter. No matter the conditions any artist is living in at any given moment, there are always a hundred things to feel gratitude about and a hundred to complain about. A person’s mental state is always going to be benefitted by a grateful, hence positive attitude in life. It might take a lot of spin sometimes to get oneself into a thankful attitude under tough conditions but it is well worth the effort.

Life itself is just doing its thing. How we decide to deal with it moment by moment is our own choice. When you think about it, it can feel ingenuine to be overly positive in a negative situation because it suggests denial of an elephant in the room. At the same time indulging in a negative approach usually doesn’t help and leads to further perturbance. The development of a generally chronic negative or critical attitude becomes a pollutant to the general atmosphere around oneself and effects others. Similarly developing a generally positive attitude also make an atmosphere and has its affect on all around in a positive way.

I typically try to shoot for being equanimous or calm and even minded which allows one to have an increased and more subtle responsiveness to the surrounding conditions and inclines one to be more empathetic and intuitive while viewing all things as mostly equal in nature and allows one to see and accept the surrounding conditions as they are without expectation. Often things can seem easily spoiled when you have high expectations. Hence, like I always say: “Expect nothing and you will never be disappointed.”

Unless you are lucky enough to have grown up in a creative family environment, young artists and other creatives in general can often feel the odd man out in many family gatherings where the highest aspiration is to be neurotypical or ‘normal’ and would prefer to be among their own neurodivergent or creative cohort that speak their language. If this sounds like you, then equanimity is a good discipline to develop allowing you to be as tolerant and accepting of others as possible. We all have a place in the world.

When I was younger I tended to avoid or lay low at large gatherings of almost any sort. But I have slowly gotten better at it and have figured out how to enjoy everyone. In the end, everyone is a hidden treasure waiting to be discovered.

Ok that’s my Thanksgiving day message. Have fun, don’t over indulge! Drive safe. Talk to you tomorrow.