Get a New Perspective

Happy New Year, my friends! As we turn the page to a new year, it’s a great time to see things in a new way… to get a new perspective. And that’s our next Watercolor Wisdom – lessons I’ve learned through watercolor that can be applied to life.

Often, when painting, we can find ourselves focusing on the little things… letting the mistakes or color issues grab our attention. Or focusing on the strokes and individual pieces of the painting. We get wrapped up in the different parts of the project and can’t see the entire painting because we’re too close. And as we focus so closely, we sometimes think the painting is a mess or is ruined.  We “can’t see the forest for the trees.” And often we’re ready to throw it in the trash and to give up before we’re finished.

But when we step back and view the painting’s progress from across the room, we can see it as a whole rather than its individual parts. And we begin to realize its beauty, connection, and possibilities. We can finally see the forest rather than focusing on the trees directly in our path. Artists will often photograph their paintings as they work. This is not just so they can share process images, but it’s another way to view the painting as a whole. Even though it’s not finished, it’s more put together when viewed from a distance. And that new perspective motivates us to keep going.

In life, we can get wrapped up in the details, focus too much on the struggles, and get overwhelmed by the ‘to do’ list. We find ourselves so close to the current challenge or frustration that it’s all we can focus on; those details can become larger than life to the point that we almost lose track of everything else.

But as with painting, when we step back and look at life as a whole, we realize those details and challenges are just a piece of the puzzle, a single stop in the journey, a moment in time. When we see them as a piece rather than the whole, they become smaller and easier to digest. We know they are only a moment - difficult perhaps - but in time we will move beyond them or learn from them and grow or even incorporate them as a positive part of ourselves. When we take the time to step away from whatever is frustrating or challenging us and look at the project or our life as a whole, we get a new perspective and become clearer in our vision and stronger in our resolve.

So when you get bogged down in life with the specifics or the challenges, take a step back, see the bigger picture, and get a new perspective. Then use that new perspective to move yourself forward. Here’s to a great year!!