Art Turned Philosophical

My daughter Katie is an artist. Want to see?

This is what the kitchen table looks like when she is doing homework. I love it.

I majored in Humanities and Art History but I cannot paint or draw to save my life. Seeing what Katie can create gives me some of the greatest joy. Major parenting pay off right here.

I have this framed in my bedroom. It's very hard to get a good picture (for me anyway). She is taking advanced placement art in school this year and pretty much as soon as she finishes something I try to get her to give it to me.

She gets a little annoyed.

She did paint this mermaid for my birthday; Marc gave me the angel. I love them together, the curve of their bodies, the tenderness of the angel watching the mermaid, it puts me to sleep happy.

Katie is just 17 and sometimes she is so hard on herself. She thinks she doesn't have any talents...CRAZY!

Aren't we all like that sometimes? When I look at her I see all kinds of awesome. She is adventurous, smart, fun, artistic, creative and so snuggley! All she can see are her weaknesses. When I point our her strengths she blows them off as being of little value.

As a grown ups we need to own our strengths. We should be gentle with ourselves, and recognize our beautiful gifts. I associate with many amazing women who when I comment on their coolness swipe my complements away like flies. Being modest is one thing, but discounting your contributions is damaging.

Why do we do that?