I created this piece during the height of the pandemic while on lockdown. Despite the craziness happening everywhere, the unfortunate passings, the desperate need to socialize with others and the banality of staring at the same four walls day after day….it was an important year.

Most things in life, I’ve found, are out of my control. But the one thing I can control is my response. My attitude.

It’s easy, when things aren’t going the way I planned, to jump feet first into that downward spiral. But how productive is that? And there are usually casualties in the wake of any bad mood. Even friendly fire. And why intentionally, or even unintentionally hurt those you love?

So yes, those two years slowed time to a snail’s crawl but several positive things occurred:

-       There was ample time for self-reflection.

-       I reconnected with friends I hadn’t spoken to in quite some time.

-       The creative juices were flowing and I created a whole new body of artwork.

-       This time jump started my art career and gave me the courage to become a full-time artist.

Yes, those two years will always remain asterisked years, and there are plenty of negatives to list out, but I choose to focus on the positive.

 ***

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.”

~ Charles R. Swindoll