Everyday there is something to learn, something to be thankful for, something to let go of and something to be wrong about.
Today I took four framing orders that I didn’t think would happen. The reason I didn’t think they would happen is because the art being framed would have easily fit into frames off the shelf. Why did these people want to spend more money than they needed to? As each conversation took place I learned something interesting about the art laying on my counter and that it warranted something unique and special because of the impact of the art itself, how it was obtained or both.
I encourage customers to “tell me the story” about their art but today one of my customers was ready to share her story even before I asked. On the counter laid a very colorful painting of a sea turtle. It had beautiful shades of blues and greens and purples. It was going to be fun to create a design and before long the mats were chosen as well as the perfect frame all while hearing a bit about the artist. This amazing woman was born without arms and legs. Her mother didn’t want her so she was put up for adoption. As fate would have it, there was a mother that did want this little girl and she grew and flourished into adulthood. She developed an incredibly optimistic attitude early on and simply focused on what she did have rather than what she didn’t. The sea turtle painting was just one of many she has created by holding a paint brush between her neck and shoulder. When asked how she chooses what to put on her canvases she simply responded, “I like to paint things of beauty in nature as I feel this is what pleases God.”
The woman that acquired the painting said she was humbled by it’s amazing artist and has made a vow to never complain as nothing in her life could be more difficult than what this artist overcame with beauty and grace.
I told her I deal with arthritis pain and have for a great many years. I don’t enjoy struggling to lift my leg into my vehicle after working on concrete all day or taking a while to get my joints moving after sitting or tossing and turning for at least an hour before falling asleep every night but I realized, once again, that what I have, some don’t. I try to celebrate my pain rather than dwell on it because there isn’t a single second when I’m awake that I’m not afforded the ability to feel pain in the arms and legs God blessed me with.
We all have our crosses to bear. Some are larger than others. Some require tremendous strength and some help us to find ways to change the world in a “sea turtle” kind of way.