Gandhi was right. Also, if you can be positive around others they often carry on the practice. Drop the pebble. Make the wave.

You're right Sue. As a believer in the Law of Attraction I believe that we surround ourselves as best we can, with people that are on the same wave length we are. If we are generally upbeat and positive, then we will tend to associate with those that are upbeat. If someone that is dark and brooding steps into our group, we tend to tolerate it for only so long, before we begin to find reasons to avoid them. One of my hobbies, besides art, is ballroom dancing. Not because I'm any good at it, but because I enjoy being around the people that are drawn to ballroom dancing. You can't go out on Friday or Saturday night for some waltzes and foxtrots without having a fun time and everyone that is there is there to have fun.

So perfect for the winter months! I loved the reminder that those enjoying longer daylight hours are a bit sunnier just naturally...I just don't take my discourage moments too seriously...and feed myself wonderful quotes and reminders, like this article. Humor helps too...thanks!

All of us at one time or another experience dark days and I believe this is just part of being alive and living in the moment. I've been told it is the artist in me, which I personally don't believe, although I do allow others to believe it, for the drama if nothing else. I believe the sun comes up each morning and we chose whether we open the blinds or not. It is my choice to be sunny side up or not. But then everything revolves around choices. Fortunately there are many in my life that burst in and throw open the blinds and kick start my go-get-em. Surrounding yourself with positive sunshine seekers is the way to go. Positive people, a good debate, a solid cause, good music, cokes, and laughter are sunshine on the darkest days. Fill your life with them and your days and work will reflect it.

Yes indeed! Surround yourself with good people, and life will be good. If someone does not enhance your life they are most likely detracting from it. I must admit I do spend more time than I would like trying to work out how to "Nicely" end associations with people who bring me down, not easy when you are a person who tends to hide from confrontation. I spent far to many years humouring people who seemed to enjoy my company far more than I ever enjoyed theirs. It took a few decades to realize that a few good friends are worth their weight in gold, and are to be cherished, whereas associates have their place but must be treated with caution as often they are not who they led you to believe them to be. I can now say with confidence "I Love my Life and my people".

I don't think it's as easy as all that. A lot of times emotions are like the weather -- you take what you get on any given day. While counting your blessings and trying to take an interest in things around you can help (like an umbrella), they don't stop the rain.

Though I have noticed that the really bad days are when you can't seem to see outside your own problems, and good days are when you can take joy in other people and things.

It is a sunny day today not only because there is the sun but because we have the opportunity to share positive feelings .It is a precious gift to read other's people ideas .We do not know one another but we are upbeat sailors on the some boat . We are companions in this life trip .I have just finished to read " The Secret " .I believe in the Law of Attraction .I feel fine with people on my same wave lenght .I thank you all the people who share their feelings and I greet them with this Sunny Side Up cd :
http://www.publiweb.com/video/candy.html by Paolo Nutini .So long .

Recently, an anonymous subscriber reminded us: "People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it."

We always told our kids that it didn't matter whether or not you said you can, or you can't; you'll be right.

I have to thank my students who have given me renewed insight on painting. I learn from you every day and try and use this knowledge in my own work.
I also want to thank those who have taken the time and made the effort to contact me thoughtout the year from this site.
Thanks and may all your painting days by satisfactory.

I read your periodic missives with gratitude and, often, bemusement. I won't comment on what I think of some of the silly people you have to deal with other than to quote for their edification, in this case, the late, great Johnny Mercer:
"Ya gotta ac-cen-tuate the positive, e-lim-inate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and DON'T MESS WITH Mr. In-between."
Tell that to your fans who so confuse themselves with nonsense.

My father had a phrase he used that still sticks with me. He used to encourage me to 'suspend my disbelief'. Hearing that phrase as a teenager didn't do much for me, but now I see it as a very important idea. To believe is to have faith and to have faith conquers fear every time. It is much easier to doubt and to fear, to seek out failure like a comfortable warm bed. Why do we seek failure? Because for many of us , it is failure that runs through our personal story, the short narrative that replays over and over in our brain. ' Wouldn't you know, I got screwed again'. 'The world is a cruel place, just a series of kicks to the head" etc. etc. Lately I've been reading a similar idea in a few different books. Why not 'change the story?" Think back over an event, and change your interpretation to a more positive one....and then move on. I am finding it works! With each new interpretation, I feel like a skeleton key is turning the lock of a rusty prison cell and i'm rushing out to a beautiful landscape. It's slowly clearing out space for a creative thought, a positive thought, a loving thought. Thoughts are the gasoline that runs our engine. Better thoughts, better performance. Naturally my good buddies fear and failure are there to hang out with me at every moment I seek them out. I've started the process to banish them from my home and studio. I'm starting to think and thinking is good. I think I'm going to be happy, to enjoy each day, to be grateful for small blessings, to treat myself and other people well, to live life like it is the great gift it is. Thinking will eventually make me change my ways.

I've come to the realization that the glass half empty is a myth. Despite the insistence of hords of comtrollers, fearmongers and salespersons who would have you believe otherwise.
And thanks for the Ghandi quote.

Most of us have an inner critic we have to debate with in order to carry on with the project we are planning to do. Keeping a positive, sunny, attitude helps make light (pun intended) of our critic's negativity. it's not always easy to keep arguing but one can build a list of wins which keeps fear at a distance.
Joining a group with common interests (like the ballroom dancer) helps keep one's life in a perspective such that we can look at the sunny side of the street.

I think this time of year is when a lot of us are thinking "where do I go from here?" Most artists seem to be eternal students and sometimes we turn too critical. But, paint we must, because we are driven to it- and you are so right to point out the necessity of seeing things "sunny side up". I often think of a quote from Mary Cassatt about her contribution . "I have touched with a sense of art some people- they have felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to that joy for an artist? "
, Richmond, B.C.

I once saw a terrific poster in a winery where I worked, which started off with all those "feel good" kind of statements that are in this letter. But the last line said, "but when you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember your main objective was to drain the swamp." Now me, I'm a pretty positive kind of guy, but I swear, there are times when I feel like I'm "up to my ass in alligators".

Positivity breeds positivity while negativity breeds negativity. This seems like a simple ditty. Having a positive life means that you are moving forward to reach goals, life accomplishments and the right to happiness in this world. If you are negative, you get what you ask for; an inability to pursue a life of dreams, of thoughts, of joy.

In regard to your art, we all know, based on my above said comments, that the same repercussions will occur. A painting, for instance, will blossom in the light of the positive painter. Colors take over, wheras the darkness of negativity leaves the artist with a muddy canvas.

Personally, I am positive. I get up in the morning saying the day is "great"! With this positive proclamation, I am destined to have a greater than good day. It works. Try this mantra as an artist living in your realm of art.

Negative behavior; complaining about the day, being generally sour in attitude will give you that sort of result.

Throw positive accolades into the atmosphere and you have embellished the Universe as well as yourself!

Sometimes it does not pay to be kind, because kindness triggers complacency.
what do I mean by that?
well, we are not in the "business" of art and the creative process for the sake of an artiticial relief and the wonder of placebo.
this is the real world, the sharp pain that hightens the sensitivity of awerness, any attempt to ease the pain will pull us back to the darkness of premature speculations. there is only one way to explain it, there is only one way to feel it, there is only one way to express is there is only one way to digest it.... the way through which words cannot penetrate the quiete meaning, and that is to say: if you cannot take the heat, find another occupation, do not waste your time figuring-out the half-empty and the half full. creating art is all about the extreme commitment to the seed that shows a new face every day, if you can understand that, you rule the territory of doubt and hessitation.
I, sometimes, feel that you are dealing with serious issues with an uncalled for shallowness, talk more about the nerve ends that leave us puzzeled in the midst of a crucial decision making process, think about it, scratch your head and when you think you are ready to write about it, scratch your head again.
it is nice to be considerate and kind but in the "business" of art harshness, sometimes, helps you relax, and the truth, that no one speaks about, helps find the real calling.

I think that this "positivity" thing is being seriously misused. When I realize that I am not on the preferred end with banks, employers and such abusers, their positivity and enthusiasm to push common folks down doesn't breed any positivity in me.

you always have time for the things you put first...

They said it couldn't be done,
They said it was not worth the fight.
But when we started to do it,
We said, my God, they were right!

"If you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right" - Henry Ford

All of this is very, very well but we are never, never in control of this world we live in as recent events make clear. Reality does indeed intrude.

Just picking up a brush is the beginning of an act of faith. A young child does this without even thinking. “Oh look, paints, let’s see what I can make!” Lessons we can learn from children really can help us get beyond the self-doubt or discouragement that sabotages our artistic process. First grade kids are eager to grab the paintbrush and get started, even if they aren’t sure what the outcome will be. They paint with abandon and for the joy of the process. It would be a worthwhile experiment to begin with a new approach, project or subject matter. Try painting something you’ve never dreamed of painting before. It will be your chance to "try on" the childlike spirit in a real way. You may even discover a new path that could be just what you’ve been waiting for. Oh, and there is no harm in remembering that fun is allowed in painting!

Niwot, CO

Your list was wonderful right up to that last item. Being hard to
please causes a lot of trouble. No No No

I'll add one word, three times: "Appreciate, appreciate, appreciate"

In most of our activities we have a choice. The entrepreneurial spirit, to which most artists subscribe, suggests we need sharp brushes and shiny shoes.

I am not a painter...okay, maybe I am a painter wannabe... I have the brushes and the canvas and the paints, but I have only painted sporadically. But as a jewelry artist I can pretty much say that this applies no matter your chosen medium. I have been reflecting on the nature of our attitudes of late. Like many others I have picked a word for 2010 that I hope will frame my time this year. INSPIRE. I want to be inspired by all that is around me and I want to inspire others. To be whatever they want to be.
I also decided that wasn't enough. I needed another word. My glass is half full and filling rapidly and I believe it has a lot to do with my success. People gravitate to me because I am looking up. So that is my second word. UP...chin up, keep it up, live it up, give it up, bubble up, don't give up... UP is the way to be.
Thank you for sharing your inspiration today. I am so glad that I found you.
Enjoy the day!
Erin

I have always disliked the glass-half-full-half-empty metaphor. To me, it is meaningless, an over simplification that makes something black/white rather than with shades of meaning. I too think that there is an over emphasis on false optimism, as if everything could be made ok if we just don't let ourselves feel the bad things. Pain, anger, disappointment, anguish, fear are all real and need to be felt and embraced in order to for us to let go of them and keep them from hindering growth. They coexist with the myriad small joys of life, and all are part of living in connection with the world and our neighbors (and therefore, of art).

If I were to speak of a glass, mine empties and refills, more like the flow of the tides than a finite bounded space. There is beauty in the empty glass and joy in refilling it, nourishment in drinking from it, security in knowing that it is there.

I enjoy reading of how other creative people come to terms with the up and down cycles in work and life in general. I like to think I'm a half full thinker and act on that premise.

Even with this attitude, I know there are times when the glass is empty. I start looking about to figure out how to "jump start" the filling process, not wasting energy mourning the empty glass.