When my daughter was a little girl about three, we picked her up at her grandmother’s house and she proceeded to throw a little fit.  Not a tantrum, just a frustrated, whiny, teary little fit.  We asked her what was the matter, and she answered with head shaking and more whining and crying.  The more we asked, the more frustrated she became.  Finally, in a totally exasperated voice, she announced, “I want something DIFFERENT!”

Sometimes, I know exactly how she felt.  Lately has been one of those times.  I can’t totally put my name to it, but I want something different.  I want to do something new, or at least something I haven’t done in a while.  So today I went and bought the tools to do something I haven’t done in years and years.  I bought a sketchbook, a set of drawing pencils, charcoal, and watercolor crayons.   I have not drawn anything other than doodles in the margin of class notes and meeting agendas in years, or used a paintbrush on anything other than a wall.

So what on earth am I doing with this box of pencils and this pad of paper?  I  have absolutely no idea.   But when I am out of sorts, I need to create something other than words.   The other side of my brain needs to take over and save me from the world of words.  And don’t get me wrong – no one loves words more than I do.  I love to read them, I love to write them, I even love to fit them into little squares in the crossword puzzle and create them on the scrabble board.

Drawing and painting are different, though.  They have no limits, no rules – at least the way I do it they don’t.   They just let things flow and see what happens.  So, we’ll see what comes out of the right side of my brain.  At least it will be something different!