I’m grateful for the Canvas

I was running along the beach on a recent business trip when I came across a woman who was creating something beautiful in the sand.  As I got closer I could see that she was using a rake to design a piece of art right there on the beach.  I, with a few others, stood and watched her for a while in awe because of the piece she was creating, and mostly because when I see someone who is artistic like that, I am inspired.  That is not my gift, and I greatly appreciate it in others.  

I had to find out who she was and why she did this. 

“This is beautiful,” I said.  

“Thanks” was her response and she kept running her rake across the sand.  

“How long have you been doing this?” I asked.  

“Oh, a while.”

Hmm, I was hoping for more information.  “Have you lived here your whole life? Are you an artist?”

She looked at me, took her headphones off and said, “Is this an interview?”

I laughed and replied, “Sort of.  I’m very intrigued by what you are doing. It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you. I’m grateful for the canvas.” 

Here she was on a beach where hundreds of people come and go every day and see it as that--a beach--a very beautiful one. She sees it as a canvas:  a place to create something beautiful.  She’s lived there since 2012, and creates something on the beach 4 or 5 times a week. 

“It’s just so neat to watch you create it.”

“Thank you,” she responded, “some people don’t appreciate it.”

 “What? Why wouldn’t they appreciate it?”

  “They say it ruins the beach--the pristine nature of it.” (Remember it’s a beach; this exquisite work of art is going to wash away within hours.) She obviously didn’t give much heed to those who thought differently than her.  Then, without another word, she said, “I need to get moving again.”  She put her headphones back on and started dragging her rake to continue creating. .  

I walked away and the words, “I’m thankful for the canvas” rang in my ears.  I’m thankful for the canvas!  She saw something in that sand that the rest of us on that beach didn’t: a canvas. A place to create.

My life is a canvas, I thought. Our lives are a canvas. We get to decide what we want to create. Are we grateful for the canvas? Are we mindful of what we choose to create every day? Where are we dragging our rake? Are we worried about what others are thinking about what we choose?  Are we humble enough to recognize that it’s a process, that we have to keep “dragging the rake” to add to the creation? Are we willing to start again every morning? Creating. Aware. Mindful. Responsible. Respectful. Vulnerable. Honest. Charitable. Are we willing to make mistakes recognizing that in the making of the mistakes, we learn? 

The freedom that comes from realizing that we are here to learn, grow, and progress, and that our canvas has space for all of that is like the sand on that beach. It’s depth and number cannot be numbered. So go ahead…create!