Tulips; 2014; 15″ x 22″; watercolor.
Time and space for painting and writing is scarce this summer. Without accessing those deep creative parts of my being, at times I feel dry and out-of-touch with myself and with God. But I am simultaneously aware that my heart is storing away moments like treasures from a far-away land. Moments in time that, when there is time, I will pull out like a mosaic. I will hold it in the morning sun and savor its glittering sweetness. I will paint, I will write.
Moments of joy. Of watching a son swing a bat, sending a ball out into the air like his dreams reaching into the future.
Moments of sorrow. Of lying in the grass at midnight with a son and our beloved greyhound, dying of cancer. Of surrounding our dog on the patio on the day he died this week, and feeling love immeasurable as we met one another’s eyes, as our dog gazed into each of our eyes and knew he was loved.
Moments of frustration. Of watching a child throw a temper tantrum, with stomping feet and all, about something small, knowing it is really about grief.
Moments of struggle that somehow become moments of joy as they are engulfed in love. All of it flowing into and through my soul, becoming who I am.
The time will come, in the fall, to capture it all through the gift of creativity. But for now, I’m simply embracing each moment. I’m grateful to be alive and present. I am pretty sure that being present, in and of itself, is art.
In this passing moment, as I catapult into the next, I realize: last summer at this time, when I grabbed precious time to paint, I painted a dead weed. This year, I am painting tulips. Summer has come.
Colleen Briggs Art & Writing 
Yes! I know the feeling…. Hard to find the space to process in the summertime. But I love the reminder to be present fully here and now. And I’m so sorry to hear about the death of your beloved doggie. It’s heartbreaking to say good-bye to our loyal companions. Love to all…
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Thank you Megan! I hope you and your brood are absorbing some special moments amidst the chaos of summer!
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That is beautiful, Colleen! I feel so much the same in this season of life with small children, but the day will come. Thank you for the reminder to be present, and through that, be art.
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Thank you for your empathy, encouragement and companionship in the journey, Penny!
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This is beautiful, glad I found your blog Colleen. Life is so full of moments, tears and joy and yes creativity is always within sometimes digesting life, quiet and absorbing and other time extrovert and expressing. We breath through it and sometimes we need that in-breathe moment and just be, I so much agree with you. Summer is to enjoy and Be!
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Thank you so much for finding me! I really resonated with your post on living in the “now.” How easy it is to miss the gifts of “now” as I try to make sense of yesterday and prepare my heart for tomorrow. Yet “now” is the greatest gift. I hope your summer is rich with “be-ing”!
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Thank you so much Colleen, glad you liked my post. Same to you;) I am leaving for the country next weekend and that place is filled with “be-ingness” Namaste
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May you be refreshed and renewed!
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Yes, I agree that being itself is an art, perhaps the most challenging form… I am enjoying the summer greatly, though I do look forward to the fall now… 🙂
Michael
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hmm… curious about your eagerness for fall. What do you look forward to in fall? (I always love fall myself with the incredible colors. I’m not quite ready yet, but I know I will be)
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Well, you said you were storing up some creative expressions for the fall, and so naturally, while the summer is quite lovely, the fall will be, too…
Michael
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I’m so glad I’ve met you Michael! Your creative expressions are a blessing to me!
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