Tag Archives: Lisa Lillibridge

artist/designer/blogger

Still can’t find Waldo? Really?

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Sometimes things are so obvious and yet we still can’t see.  We all have our blind spots and it can be actually comical how we choose to not see them.  It could be something painful, or an issue we just don’t want to tackle right now or a challenge that has become a permanent blind spot.  And no matter how glaringly the universe is revealing it to us—we have rendered it INVISIBLE.  Our brains are ridiculously adept at this maneuver.  I am trying something different now.  Instead of avoiding the issue (which I am masterful at, trust me) I am trying to address how I am FEELING about the issue at hand.  It’s actually a pretty big game changer and not too hard to get the hang of, but it requires practice just like anything else.

When you can identify the feeling,

sometimes the solution becomes way more obvious.

Example: I have twin 14-year-old girls.  They are sooooo loud.  The sing all the time (even at really strange times like during dinner in the middle of a conversation) and it makes me mad.  Actually mad.  So, the last time it happened I just said to myself, “Why is this making me so mad?”  The answer came immediately to me.  “I felt mad because I needed more time alone and some quiet to recharge”.  That was easily repairable (I took a bath) and the fall-out from getting angry at 14-year-old girls isn’t so easily repaired and all it took was asking myself one relatively simple question.

I am going to try to use the image of WALDO to remind me see the obvious.

WHY WALDO? TELL ME WHY?

where's waldo

“One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

A word of great relevance and humility.

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The word “custodian” is my new favorite word and I want to share with you why.  I was recently in a discussion about why my creative work has any relevance whatsoever in a world that has so many challenges. I always struggle with this.  Should I really paint, write, make jewelry and shoot photographs when so many people are hungry, sick, sad and lonely?

I was then asked two questions:

1. Why were you given these abilities?  2. What could your creative work do to make the world a better place?

As I pondered these questions presented to me the word “custodian” surfaced.  LOUDLY.

CUS•TO•DI•AN

This word to me is a beautiful, humble mantra/prayer to be called upon often—someone who keeps and protects something valuable.  I started thinking about the custodians of my high school when I was growing up—Edith and Andy.  I used to go to school early to do my homework and talk to them as I sat in the hallway finishing up assignments.  They were humble, thoughtful people who kept and protected my school. Custodians…

Being the custodian of our talents is necessary to allow them grow. If we choose to NOT be thoughtful custodians of our talents (whatever they may be) we are not holding up our end of the human bargain.