On February 4th I took a tumble and landed hard on my right wrist. A trip to the emergency room confirmed I had indeed broken a bone and my dominant right hand, my painting hand, would be out of commission for at least 8 weeks. I had just come up for air from an intense period in my personal life and was, of course, looking forward to immersing in the creative process. As you can imagine, I was really bummed and felt thwarted, but over the weeks that followed, lo and behold, I started to see a silver lining emerge.
One thing that happens when you shift to a new paradigm is you have to focus intensely on what you are doing in that moment to simply get it accomplished. Getting dressed, showering, driving, lifting a fork - all of the mundane things come into sharp focus when you can't just blow through them and you are forced to slow down and be in that moment. Accepting where you are, the sheer reality of the situation, brings a real and unexpected gift- the gift of presence.
Being present is something I have been working on, lost track of, and now, thru this injury have gratefully regained on some level. For years I have lauded my ability to multitask, but now I see how it has fractured my ability to tap into a deeper well. I believe presence informs my creativity and allows The Flow to appear. There is no doubt that when I am focused in the now, a conduit opens and I can tap into something richer. I have in these recent months felt that space inside open up in a big way. Such a gift!
Two weeks in, I felt compelled to try and paint so I went, cast and all, to a painting class I had signed up for and thought what is the worst that could happen? Well, "Left Hand Laura" just let it flow and it was so fun! Fun to just paint with no expectations, fun to see I could still create, fun to allow myself to create with heart, to be present, loosen up and let it rip.
Here are a couple of the paintings from what will now be known as my Left Hand Period. Here's to embracing the challenge of the unexpected!
