The Red In My Painting

  Many years ago there was a movie titled “I Am Sam”. I don’t recall much of the movie, in fact, there is only one part of it that I remember in any detail. The premise of the movie was about a mentally challenged father who was trying to take care of his child. She quickly outgrew him in logic but the delight she found in life with him is what made the most significant impression on her. She painted a picture about her life and splashed colors of red across it. While the picture itself was ordinary, the splashes of red stood out. The line I always remember is…You are the red in my painting .The parts of life that gives it vibrancy, depth, and beauty. As red is my favorite color, it is perfectly understandable to me how the beautiful things in life are my reds also.

We enjoyed the most beautiful sunsets as we watched the setting sun turn a brilliant blue sky and ocean red. The changing color of the leaves on the tree made the hillsides vivid and alive. While I have always appreciated a good tree for the beauty and shade it provides, I have to admit a tree with color excites my heart.

I found that I could look at the ordinary through a new lens, a red colored one, and found that even the most unremarkable things were beautiful when viewed this way.

There is a lesson here I hope to remember. My perception of my life is mine. There is red all around me. I can choose to see it and enjoy it where ever I may be. Or, I can miss it and my life will become an ordinary canvas. At the end of the day the choice is mine alone to make.I pray to choose the red.

For those of you who read this…you are the real red in my life.