30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 9

"Nancy and Neal" - mixed media on reclaimed wood, 6" x 18".  Ready to hang.  Click here to purchase this piece on Artfinder.

Life is messy.

My wise sister sent me a card with this phrase on the front years ago.  It was true then, and it is still true today.  Life, indeed, is messy.

And not just the crumbs on the counter, mud on the floor, sticky substance on the inside of the refrigerator handle messy.  Complicated, tangled, convoluted and frustrating.  Messy.

But lately I've begun to embrace the messiness, just a little.  My hair, for example, looks better when it is slightly messy.  My crisp white shirt looks better with the sleeves rolled and crumpled.  My desk looks more inviting with a stack of stuff on it, calling me to sort it out.

On a grander scheme, the messiness of life can be wonderful, too.  A dear friend recently lost her position working for someone else, and now has her own fabulous shop, just a couple of months later.  My accident (a mess of the scariest sort) has led me to several incredible people, and to a new appreciation for how truly strong my body is.

In art, sometimes the most incredibly awful mess on a canvas can hold within it a bit of glorious genius that inspires (and saves) the piece, turning it into something fantastic.  
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Yesterday evening, as I hauled the bucket of duck food out to the lake, a squadron of newly flying ducks came catapulting through the air toward me, each wanting to be first to the food.  None of them graceful, they landed like cannonballs in the lake at my feet, some head first, covering me in a tidal wave of lake scum and algae.  I was a mess.  But I was laughing uncontrollably as I headed for the shower, feeling the whimsical magic of the messiness of the moment, delighted.

Life is messy.  Beautifully, uncontrollably messy.