The Power of Words

At the end of my last post, I casually mentioned, “Perhaps I’ll take up drawing or sculpting next.” Apparently, that simple statement of intent set off a chain of events in my brain that established new goals and altered my immediate focus.

I’ve always heard that words have power and that what we speak plays a huge role in shaping our life. We may not feel or see it the minute we speak, but our words are planting seeds. I was told to speak what I want even if I don’t feel a particular desire for it. If it’s a worthy goal, the emotional feeling might come in time, but it’s not necessary. The classic example of this is to set an intention to be more loving, considerate, and kind to family, relatives, and friends. I don’t have to feel more loving when I say it, but if I start doing things that demonstrate my intention, my emotions might get inline. Even if they don’t, I will have met my goal.

I’ve kinda known the power of intentions start with stating what you want. In practical terms, it’s declaring a near or long-term goal that might take years to manifest itself. For at least the last ten years, I’ve been saying I’d like to try my hand at painting, but never lifted a brush or attended a class to give it a try. Not sure where that desire is coming from since I don’t sketch or draw and never have. Maybe I put it in my bucket list a long time ago and forgot about it.

I’ve read that an intention should be identified and written down or spoken as the first step. For example, I intended to learn how to clog dance. I’ve tried that by watching YouTube videos, imitating them, but still can’t do it. I intended to learn how to harmonize while singing along with You Tube teachers but still can’t do it. Twice failed but at least I tried.

I think it goes without saying that when we declare an intention, we are more likely to take action to achieve it. That said, I unleashed the power of intention and unwittingly set two new goals for myself: learn to sculpt and learn to draw or paint. Thankfully, I have no desire to climb Mt Everest and won’t ever set it as an intention.

Last week, my daughter-in-law and I attended a two-hour painting class. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at painting and now I’m actually doing it―at age eighty (thanks to her).

I’ve never done anything like that before and it was a bit intimidating. I now feel that I want to do more painting and continue to improve. It’s an inexpensive challenge that pays a big reward. Creating something on canvas is like writing a book. Both are blank to start with, but we populate it with our creativity and imagination and that sort of activity fills me with immense joy.

I also picked up twenty-pounds of never-drying clay at a craft store and immediately set about sculpting a human head―simply because I’ve always wanted to try. At the moment, the poor thing looks so pathetic, but since the clay never dries, I can go back to it, over and over again. So far, I got the eye brows all wrong but that’s an easy fix. This is exciting and new to me!

Having completed the writing and editing of my most recent book, I now have time to do more painting and sculping.

Declare your intention and watch out! Age is not a limitation. Go for it!