03/01/2019
“Be Silly, Be Honest, Be Kind”
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This is a custom canvas order I received from a mother this week- to put in her daughters’ room.
She didn’t know what colors she wanted exactly, so I had her send me some colors from her daughters’ room.
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It was one of those rooms where ALL colors are welcome; blues, greens, red & oranges.
She wanted the canvas to be small.
-to fit right above her daughters’ light switch.
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And although I’m making some assumptions here, I believe the placement is so her daughter can see this sign as a reminder.
EVERY. DAY.
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And you know what it doesn’t say?
It doesn’t say-->
Good morning daughter-
BE your goal weight.
Be the IMAGE society wants.
DON’T eat the donut.
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What this mother wants DOES want to convey to her daughter (ie. what we try to tell ALL developing minds little minds’) is a message of love and acceptance- for others’ and (most importantly)-
for herself.
Be KIND, Be HONEST and BE SILLY.
And you know what made me tear up when making this?
Thinking about how almost a decade ago, I hung up a similar ‘reminder’ picture by MY light switch.
BUT- it conveyed a totally different message.
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It was a picture of me that I LOATHED.
ONE that would remind me every day to RESTRICT and to ‘STAY on my current DIET’
One that would remind me to-
“Be better than this picture, because no one will love you if you continue to look like this”
One that instilled self hatred of the person looking staring right back at me.
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I tell you this story because society often tells us to use pictures of our past self (or pictures of others’) to be our aid in dieting-or to remind us of a time based on the way we LOOKED.
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But you know what these kinds of pictures don’t convey?-- the LOVE we FELT at the family reunion that day, or how GOOD the sun felt against our skin in that swimsuit- or the joy our children felt as we held them tightly in our arms.
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They only speak to ONE story-
WHAT we looked like in THAT millisecond.
They don't speak to our character.
Please know NOW that YOU- that WE!
are SO MUCH MORE than a single picture
SO. MUCH. MORE.
