Begin A Beginning by Janet R. Rempel

Begin a Beginning.

I’m speaking about Art, 

Creative Endeavors,

And

Or

the Art of Life.

To begin….sounds simple.

Yet that is often the hardest move to make, to begin a beginning.

There are so many 

things:…responsibilities, entertainments, fitness, family and friends,

and thoughts:…”Fool am I, that drawing isn’t right!”, “What am I trying to say?”, “That has so been done!”,

and moments……becoming days, then months and years,

 that can fill my life before I simply begin.

 Begin what? you might ask. Begin whatever it is I long to begin!

A poem, a story, a book, a creative work, a journey, a vacation, a spiritual transformation, a masterpiece, a friendship, a dance, a melody…..whatever it is I long to begin.

I might really want to paint a Renoir, or a Sargent, or a DaVinci or a Monet, yet I long to paint a masterpiece only I can paint. 

I think about the things in the way, 

under my feet, in my mind and in my heart, 

that line up and hinder my hand from lifting my paint brush and sweeping lush  pigment onto the expanse of heavy white paper or prepared canvas. 

And I sigh. 

For I cannot just disregard the importance of these things whatever they may be, and wash them away with an impetuous bold action….not without sacrifice.

Sacrifice. Giving up something. Risk. Letting go.

Yet I can still choose to do it. 

Be impetuous that is. Stop doing the other, whatever the other is, and do this. 

Begin a beginning.

Here. Now. Make the move. Take the risk.  

Be willing to let go and sacrifice what I know, for what I don’t know.

Embrace what I might create or become.

I am speaking about Art, 

Creative Endeavors,

And

Or

the Art of Life.

For me, decisions are made in advance with the hope that a fine design and work of Art will be the final result. For I know that “go-for-it” moments can result in a painting with problems not easily corrected. So, for me, forethought is , for the most part, beneficial.

And Yet.

“Go-for-it” moments teach me things I don’t learn when I am working with patience and methodical wisdom. 

Because “Go-for-it” moments often break through with creative invention and “Ah-hah” insight, showing me things that work…and things that don’t work.

As I write, outdoors it is a blue sky and white cloud spring day in California. The new budding foliage and splash of wildflower color is breathtaking, and the wind is tossing the branches about and roaring through the new leaf with abandon. The air is clean and edged with enough cold for a sweater and enough warmth to beacon me outside. Pushed by the wind, walking midst spring’s rising grasses, I am invigorated and refreshed and mesmerized by what I see around me.  These very foothills, once weary and dry from years of drought, are now crowned with thick leafy oak trees dancing in the wind, and seem to be singing with gratefulness for the wondrous winter rains still permeating the soil. Feeling the resilience under my feet, I feel myself expand and delight in the life all around me.

All to say, these momentary horizons bring to mind the wonder of new beginnings. And I cannot help but reflect on the truth that rain follows drought eventually, spring follows winter consistently, and the most spectacular outcomes from beginnings can only happen with that first move to begin!

Often necessities, frustrations, and renewed energies presage any new beginning, and they often gather as a launch or a diving board beneath our feet to help spring us into the unknown! Yet whatever it is that launches a new beginning; it is the “new beginning” itself that holds wonder for me.

So whether I “begin” with thoughtful intention or impulsive vigor, or whether the action develops out of strong emotion or sure purpose, to begin a “beginning” is a fortuitous move, an action forward from where I’ve been to where I’m going … into wonder…..and into that which is good.

The wonder of possibility.

The wonder of mysterious growth.

The wonder of illumination.

The wonder of better understanding of myself and my heavenly Father.

The wonder of new perspectives.

Pondering new beginnings has caused me to see them everywhere, reminding me not to fear…to begin a beginning.

The rising sun, the new moon, the revolving seasons, the birdsong at dawn, the seeds rooting deep and rising high, and the nesting and nurture of the young. The glorious sunset, the melting of snow, the light in a dewdrop, the flight in a bird’s wing, and the washing of winter rains.  Because all these things, things before my very eyes, result in new possibilities, new vision, new growth, 

a sure design of what can happen when I begin a beginning.

I’m speaking of Art, 

Creative Endeavors,

And

Or

The Art of Life.

So I will choose again and again to begin,

to venture forth into the new, to move my hand.

And then I will receive a gift I could not receive, unless, I had been willing.

And I will live a life I would not have lived, unless, I had been willing.

For the painting I paint, will be the one only I can uniquely paint.

And the life I live, will be the one only I can fully live.

 When the moments gather beneath you, begin a beginning.