One day a woman who’d been wanting to paint for years, who, because of circumstances had not had any training, who led a very busy life, woke up and thought, yes. She got up, had a shower, turned the washing machine on, made breakfast for her husband and herself, washed the dishes, hung out the washing, sat at the table, drank a cup of coffee. Smiled.
Then she grabbed her bag, got into the car, drove up town to the paint shop, bought brushes and acrylic paint, then back home where she fished around in the shed and found a couple of pieces of hardboard. She propped the pieces of hardboard up against the wall, opened the tins of paint, stirred them, then picked up a brush, began painting a picture, began the journey
Around about the same time another woman saw a woman running past her place. She’d seen her before because she ran past most mornings. The woman watching supposed she was in training for something. Or did she run for the fun and the freedom of it? As she went off to work, the woman wondered what it was like, that freedom. One day she saw a pair of track shoes in an op shop. $5. She tried them on. They fitted and were in good nick. She handed over the money and took them home where they sat in the bedroom for a couple of days. Then one morning she woke up, thought, okay. Okay.
But it wasn’t until the next night that she set the alarm for a bit earlier, got up, pulled on some scraggy old trackpants, found some socks, put on the track shoes, crept through the quiet house, locked the door behind her, opened the gate, went out on the footpath and began to run. The first time was awkward and she felt a fool but she liked how she felt after, and even though her muscles grizzled a bit, that feeling was there for the rest of the day. Every day for a month she went out and the runs got longer and less awkward and one day she passed that first woman who yelled, ‘The park, Saturday, ten o’clock, see you there.’ She smiled, nodded, stopped feeling foolish and started feeling free.
So the message is clear darlings, just do it.
