Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

I have to laugh at myself sometimes. I really do.

I just did.

It's happened before. It'll happen again.

It usually happens gradually, but before I know it, I'm frustrated and the world is feeling more like a straightjacket than anything else. And usually the only way to get out of it, for me anyway, is to laugh at myself.

The reasons for that happening may vary, you understand, but I've at least become more adept at recognizing that straightjacket feeling, stopping to take a breath, and trying to objectively assess the situation. It's then that the comedy of it all hits me.

This time it wasn't because I'd built the frame to a 4 ft. x 6 ft. canvas out on the deck without thinking. (There are weird, little, narrow turns after you reach the top of the stairs and a cramped entryway. And that's just to get into the studio.) And it wasn't because I hadn't thought about how low the ceiling to the studio is. (To paint the 6 foot tall canvas, I'd have to lay on my belly.) (Okay, you can stop laughing now.)

Naw, it wasn't because of anything having to do with solutions out in the real world - which are sometimes easier to find - like removing a door or setting-up a temporary easel in the model staging area. (That's where I'm stretching the canvas above. That's why the walls are black.)

No sir. It had to do with my own mind, where solutions can't be measured with a yardstick. Seems that somewhere along the line I'd lost that wonderfully carefree attitude of, "Let's try it an' see."

Gradually, and without me knowing it, temporary delays were becoming imagined obstacles that were getting a lot of air time in my head, that tendency seemingly validated by weird little coincidences happening in the real world. And let's face it, when that happens, I might-as-well, just-as-well, eat worms.

So, "No, Jeff, just because you weren't able to touch bases with someone as soon as you thought you would doesn't mean they're not interested. And just because they're not interested… ! …doesn't mean that the whole Project's a total waste of time and gonna end-up in total failure anyway. And no, Jeff, you're probably not gonna end-up living on the streets, begging for food, going insane and in jail because that's where they put mental patients nowadays anyway." (Well, I didn't go that far, but you know what I mean.)

I'm thinking patience really is a virtue in this case. There were at least four people I wanted to 'touch-bases' with before the weekend. Plus about a half-dozen other things that were dependent upon some other things happening. But for one reason or another, none of it happened. And just because "everything" didn't happen on my schedule, exactly the way I wanted it to, doesn't mean that everything won't happen, turn out even better than expected, and maybe even with a few pleasant surprises thrown-in to boot.

Patience, Jeff, patience.

Life really is interesting, isn't it?

So, here's to all of you, wishing you all a straightjacket-free weekend. Until next time I write…

Cheers!

I think I'll go paint. Let's try it an' see what happens. :)


Oh! And thank you all for the compliments and words of encouragement. And for the person living in Florida: "Yep! I sure do love living here :)