Creative Therapy: Be Kind
June 20, 2011
This month's prompt at the Creative Therapy blog is: What's one lesson you would give a married couple? Or if you're not married, what's an advice someone gave you?
My sweet husband and I have been together since 1996 when we met in college.
Fourteen years together and I think our relationship is stronger than it has ever been. Someone once told me: Be kinder than you feel. And it has really worked for us!
Like any two people we have bad days that follow us home. But being kind and being met with kindness ensures that no bad mood lingers. And even a simple trip to the grocery store can be made sweeter with kindess. For instance, John always carries the heavy grocery bags home and allows me to simply stroll beside him. Or I know that he hates cleaning up after he cooks, so I'll offer to wash the dishes, even though it's certainly not my favorite thing either. And in the end, we usually end up doing them together!
Every time your partner meets you with kindess, you remember exactly why you fell in love with that person in the first place! It's so nice to know that someone cares enough about you to take the time to be kind. So that's my message in a nutshell: be kind.
This painting is 16x20" and a mixture of watercolor and acrylic paint. The leafy branch is meant to capture the idea of an olive branch -- an offering of peace. All the colorful jumbly circles are the stuff that's going on with you, but you have to make space for kindess.
Here are a few shots of the painting in progress:
I find myself more and more walking away from my artwork in between steps and then coming back later to add a bit here or there.
See the rest of the excellent marriage advice here.
Thanks for stopping by!
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P.S. I'll be teaching how to make this cool frame...
...at 8pm EST tonight! The online classroom is HERE.