The First Painting of 2021

by | Jan 4, 2021 | Painting & Writing, Understanding the Times | 10 comments

Here’s the first painting of 2021: I call it, Appraising the Times Ahead.

the first painting

Appraisal

 The cat is 2021; confined to my fishbowl, I  warily wonder what the future holds.

 Why am I Worried?

The storm COVID has moved closer, striking several of my friends, just as the New Year arrived. Their symptoms differ: from asymptomatic to sick, to deathly sick.  Nobody was being a daredevil.

If that news was not bad enough, current events are disturbingly dicey. So, worries have moved into my dreams, troubling me with images of unexpressed fears. Some wake me up – like an unexpected clap of thunder in a snowstorm.

Have you heard them?

Reality

I can’t both take a deep breath, and I hold my breath, waiting for the next shoe to drop.

Replace fear with gratitude, and your whole world changes. ~Terri Guillemets

As 2021 starts, I could count the losses. But,

 If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it. ~Anthony J. D’Angelo, The College Blue Book

Doing anything about anything is trickier than it was January 2020. But consider: just being able to breathe, have a pulse, and read are simple pleasures  we didn’t realize back then. So we start 2021 with THREE specific reasons to be grateful!

gratefulness

Today if I can’t be grateful for what is in my life, let me be deeply appreciative of what is not,  I say as distant thunder rumbles.

When a man is at his wits’ end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get in touch with Reality. ~Oswald Chambers

Speaking of reality:

Anyone at any moment can start a new future through Christ! (Robby Higginbottom)

Remember, when we hear unexpected  thunder, if we have a pulse, we have a purpose, and singing invigorates our pulse! Sing with me: Jesus King of Angels.

painting

inspired by Annie O’Brien Gonzales

The test of all happiness is gratitude. ~Gilbert K. Chesterton

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10 Comments

  1. Ariel
    Ariel on January 8, 2021 at 10:51 am

    Happy that I stumbled upon your site and this lovely painting compelled me to comment!

  2. Cathy B.
    Cathy B. on January 4, 2021 at 9:55 am

    Beautifully expressed and rather visually appealing! Gratitude is the best way to start each new day! ?

    • Barbara Smith
      Barbara Smith on January 4, 2021 at 10:19 am

      Thank you . . . studying Matisse’s colors is a real tonic

  3. Doug
    Doug on January 4, 2021 at 8:29 am

    What you say about gratitude is so, so true! Thank you! I love ❤️ you.

  4. Linda
    Linda on January 4, 2021 at 8:14 am

    Before reading these beautiful words, I had just listened to “Even If” by Mercy Me. It fits perfectly with what you have written. Thank you!

  5. Lois
    Lois on January 4, 2021 at 7:55 am

    Oh Barb. What a wonderful post, from the painting to the meditation, to the song. And the quotes! I leave this little devotional moment in a much better place state of mind and spirit than when I opened the post❤️

    • Barbara Smith
      Barbara Smith on January 4, 2021 at 8:32 am

      Thank you, dear friend, and thanking God for Jesus King of Angels which I am singing, along with Even if

  6. Marilyn M Doerfel
    Marilyn M Doerfel on January 4, 2021 at 6:10 am

    … but he is so cute (Cat 2021)! I love both of these paintings. And, surely, gratitude is the way to look up.