You would rather paint today, but there are things you know you should be doing.
You should be writing and working on your project, whispers your conscience. But the laptop closed with the last task. If you were really a writer, you would.
Admonishment doesn’t fire up the keyboard. Instead it makes paintbrushes heavy with guilt, and now the screen and canvas are blank. But you tell yourself you should be a writer (that’s what you’re better at) and not an artist, and end up doing nothing.
And — as Oscar Wilde warned becomes of people who exhaust their lives chasing identity instead of living in the moment – you become static, nothing.
You feel nothing until even doing the wrong thing is better than being nothing at all. And, even though you should be this thing and not that, you pick up that piece of paper, feed it into the ancient typewriter, and, for the moment, focus on doing rather than being.
Your cat, of course, is completely happy being a cat.
Rachel Barlow Art 
I love that we can learn so much from a cat. For me, you are a writer, artist, mother, etc….And you inspire me, especially with your vulnerability and practices. You are perfectly imperfect and enough. from a fan, in Oak Park, IL, near Chicago.
🙏 in peace and gratitude, Carol
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Thank you 🙏 I do love how they don’t worry about measuring up to arbitrary goals.
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I am very in tune with the whispers of my conscience too! Even though it’s unpleasant, it’s usually the right thing to do. So I do try and make it a habit to listen to it about half the time. Thanks for sharing!
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I love cate
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I love cats
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I wrestle with my laptop daily. It’s like the lid weighs a half-ton. I’ve found being myself is a never ending see-saw ride between mind and ability. Peaceful Persistence, the title of Michael Perry’s latest book explains it best. It’s something I admire most about you and your many avenues of expression. Fortunately I have your paintings as a daily wave from the front porch to kick start my days.
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