Yesterday I was with a group of friends and we went to Paint & Sip, which is a really cool paint bar in West Hartford, CT. They basically coach you though a painting project and everyone paints the “same” guided painting.
It was a really amazing experience. I have not really done any painting since I was a kid in grade school. I was a little nervous, actually, to try something I’ve never considered myself really good at. What I found out was that paining is really fun and with some instruction I’m not bad at it!
I also noticed that every painting that the people in the room did was very different. We all had the same painting to use as a guide and we all were receiving the same instructions. But for a variety of reasons every painting was different. Some had more leaves, some had bigger or smaller trees, or even different color umbrellas. Every person in the room was creating their own art in the moment.
I think we all do this with life as well. We see something, or something happens in our environment, and we all have a different experience of it. We all interpret things differently based on what is a reality to us. And everyone has a different reality, although at times it doesn’t seem that way.
I had a few other observations as well:
- Sometimes we label ourselves and this labeling prevents us from experiencing new and exciting things (I had labeled myself as NOT a painter)
- We all interpret what we see differently
- We all interpret what we hear differently
- Sometimes we take risks and other times we don’t. I think this is due to feelings we create via our thinking about things.
And lastly, having the right coach can help us transform ourselves. The proof of that is that my art coach for the evening helped me transform my belief that I could not paint. Now I know I can, which has transformed a story I’ve been telling myself my whole life.
Have you ever had an experience like this where you thoughts significantly changed about yourself? Please feel free to share!
