Article: Legacy
Legacy
As I step into my seventies, I can’t help but think about what I will leave behind.
My legacy.
If there are things I would like to leave, but they haven’t been achieved, I need to do them now.
For those who knew me, I will be remembered as a painter. I get that. And I do like the thought of them being around for a while. Maybe pass from one person to another.
That’s fulfilling.
But, what most people don’t know is that my passion has always been “creativity”. In all its forms. Painting just happened to be where I landed. And I’ve been doing it full time for almost 40 years.
I truly think I could have enjoyed a career in a number of fields. As long as it was a creative endeavor.
I love thinking creatively in every aspect of life.
Making imagery. Using words. Creating environments. Savoring mornings. Placing plants. Cooking pizzas.
And so on.
So what if some of my time and energy shifts toward encouraging and inspiring others to live inside this gift with gratitude and open hands?
What if I can encourage and inspire others to live with a sense of awareness to see beauty and wonder in the ordinary? Everyday. Then take that wonder and apply it to live creatively in their own unique way.
Then, hopefully, they would inspire others to do the same. And those would inspire others. And on and on and on.
Now THAT is something I would like to leave behind.
If we all live taking the initiative to encourage and inspire, it could have an effect for generations to come.
We can encourage and inspire simply by the way we live.
Each moment is a gift. Why not make it special and a glimpse of beauty? Remembering that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Paintings will have my name of them. Encouragement would not. And I love that.
My name is not important.
What I leave behind is.
Written by David Arms
