09/28/2026
This weekend, I had an experience that taught me something about myself I wasnāt expecting.
I participated in a Mindfulness Art experience with my sister Ellen. We were asked to choose a word and allow our minds to paint what that word represented to us.
My word was calm.
We chose our paint colours ā mine were blue, purple and grey ā and for the first half of the experience, we were blindfolded.
No seeing what I was painting. No checking where my brush was going. No knowing how it was all coming together.
Just trusting the process.
As I painted, I imagined blue, calming waters with grey waves. The grey became chains ā representing the feeling of being shackled by my need to control outcomes. The purple dots represented letting go.
At the end, we were asked to share our paintings and talk about the experience.
The first thing I said was, āBeing blindfolded felt like such a long time.ā
But the more I talked, the more I realized something.
It felt long because I wasnāt in control.
I couldnāt see the time. I couldnāt see the painting. I couldnāt control what it would look like. I had to simply be in the experience and trust where my brush was taking me.
And there was my lesson.
When Iām trying to control the outcome, I donāt feel calm.
Maybe calm isnāt something I need to find.
Maybe it comes when I loosen my grip, stop trying to control how everything will turn out, and trust myself a little more.
Funny what a blindfold, a paintbrush and a few colours can show you about yourself.
What are you holding onto that might be asking you to let go?
