We’ve all been around folks who are not very happy, either with themselves, or with life. As a result, we can often get sucked into their negative energy (aura) and start feeling down too, if we are not careful, or are unaware of what’s happening.
How refreshing it is then, to meet someone with a positive attitude, no hidden agenda, and a joy for life! Just being around someone like this is a blessing! One quickly forgets what might not be working in one’s life when we encounter someone with a joie de vivre ! Our energy is improved and so is our outlook. We literally savor the experience.
The latter happened to me recently when I ventured out to meet the public for the first time, after a dreadful accident almost 4 weeks prior, when I had a nasty fall, smashing my face, breaking my nose, and pulling some tendons in hands and legs and ended up in an ambulance being rushed to the local hospital. The fact that the huge black and purple circles around my eyes were still visible troubled me. I still had quite a swollen lip, my teeth hurt, and the skin was pulling all down the left side of my face so I had to forego makeup. That also bothered me. I hadn’t left the house without makeup since my pre-teen years and now I was a septuagenarian! I remember vividly asking the E/R doctor how I looked because I am quite vain, and there were no mirrors around, and he said “beautiful!” H’m. This guy was in the wrong profession!
But, as fate would have it, it was my turn to “sit the gallery. “ I’m a member of the Carlsbad Oceanside Art Leauge (COAL) and part of our dues, if we hang a painting at the gallery, is to pay a small hanging fee and sit the gallery for one session. Officers are exempt from sitting (the gallery), and, being an officer (Publicity Chairperson) I could easily have passed on this. However, I love to meet and talk to the public, find out what they are interested in, which paintings, sculptures, photos, etc. appeal to them and why. I love it when folks come in from other parts of the country too and I get to know what it’s like to live in another state or region.
This was the scenario two weeks ago when it was my turn to sit the gallery. I was settled in at the front desk when in bounced these two women. They whizzed through the gallery and returned to the section reserved for the “Artist of the Month” exhibition. This month it was a famous watercolor artist. They were in animated conversation when in worked the artist in the flesh! Apparently the three were friends.
After a few minutes I heard one woman say “I’ll take that one! My husband will love it too.” Hello, was I experiencing a fantastic sale so early in the day or, was it a joke? Further conversation ensued and I heard the woman say I just love this “Phoenix and the Mission” watercolor. Sure enough the woman was serious and I got to write up the purchase.
As I completed the paperwork I congratulated her, and asked her where she intended to hang the painting. She smiled, a bit sheepishly, and said that she had lost her house and all her belongings in the wildfires last fall in Fallbrook and that she had nowhere to hang it at the moment. Again, I took in a deep breath as I weighed the situation. This was pretty heady stuff. The painting was quite expensive, just under a thousand dollars and the buyer didn’t even have a wall to hang it on!
H’m what to do … I quickly called the Gallery Manager and asked him where they kept the “sold” stickers at the gallery. Whereupon he told me the client could take the painting with her once it was paid for. Then I told him the dilemma and there was a pregnant pause at his end. It was agreed the client could leave the painting at the gallery until the end of the month when a new exhibition would take over. I quickly made up a “sold” sign for her and placed it on the painting. The woman was overjoyed with her purchase, just like a kid in a candy shop. I just had to admire her courage and gift of life.
I asked her was she going to rebuild in Fallbrook and she said “Yes!” However, things were moving slowly and the Fire Department had come up with new regulations to make fighting such dreadful blazes more easy. It also meant thousands more dollars would be added to the price of the new home. She seemed undaunted … almost matter of fact. Then she said her husband was a collector and had lost everything in the fire. But they were going to pick up the pieces and start anew. Again, I congratulated her on her positive outlook and philosophy and wished her well.
After the three friends departed I sat quietly and reflected on the scene of a few minutes ago. I was feeling euphoric and then it hit me. How would I act, or react, if I had just lost my beautiful home and all my possessions? Would I feel like buying a beautiful, expensive, watercolor with nowhere to hang it? Would I even be out gallivanting with friends? I think not. My reaction would probably be much more somber.
However, I’ve discovered a very important lesson from this experience. Since then, whenever I’ve felt down in the dumps, disappointed, frustrated, annoyed, or angry at anyone or anything, I’ve thought about the woman who has lost everything she ever loved, bought, or collected in one fell swoop, and how her spirit has remained positive, friendly, and almost childlike! If she can exhibit such joy and pleasure at life after losing everything, then I can certainly handle the minor, ego-driven things in my life! She has certainly helped me to put things into perspective and, for that, I am eternally grateful!
Posted: April 26th, 2008 under Pearls of Wisdom.
Comments: none