The A-HA Moment

Have you ever had those moments that make you go “A‑HA?” Sometimes I successfully pull that off in my paintings, other times it flies over the viewers’ head. Usually these deep A-HA thoughts come to me in the shower. I don’t know…maybe I shouldn’t ask myself. I can’t even blame the coffee because routine calls for me to shower first. Maybe it is the thought of 24 hours ahead of me to do what I want that frees my mind into random association.

My A-HA moment yesterday came when I reached for the shampoo and didn’t have to turn the bottle over to get the shampoo out. Really! Think about it, all my life I had grabbed the shampoo and turned it over to squeeze out some shampoo. Over the course of many showers and many epiphanies the shampoo would slowly get used up. Finally, you would try to balance the shampoo on the edge of the tub for the next morning, hoping the bottle maintained it’s perfect balance so all the shampoo slid down to the bottom (which was the top then). How many times have I had to wait or shake a bottle hoping the little remnants would slide down and make it out of the bottle?

It’s so simple. Why did it take so long? Really it’s a brilliant idea! Then I thought about it. This upside down bottle is all around me. The ketchup and mustard sits upside down in my fridge. The laundry detergent drains from a spout at the bottom of the container. This concept is revolutionary!

Then I grabbed the soap to scrub down and to continue with this new enlightenment. The soap had changed. No longer was it a square bar but it was curved. As I washed it “fit” over my arms and legs. OMG! When did this happen? At what board meeting did someone stand up and say, “I think we should make the bar curved.”

Fast forward past the shower and past the coffee. The day has started and I’m in the studio at the easel ready to paint. I ask myself what small change can I embrace to make a big difference. I paint with a bigger stroke and less understanding. It is this small change and a step in a new direction. Hoping this new path will lead me to an all-new A-HA moment.