What Are the Odds?

What do we say to ourselves about the purpose of a question that begins with
‘How long did it take to….?’
Why do we want to know?

Probably need to really look at why we ask this leading question.
Else if we get an answer in the form of   ‘thirty years, 10,000 hours of doing it, worked five jobs while working my way through art school in Paris’…

we may feel the urge to retreat and hang up our brushes telling ourselves that this isn’t possible.
At least for us.

If it took them 20 years of trial and error to get to where they are, then maybe we are never going to get ‘there’.

You know, not great odds in arriving.
Which leads me to my ‘odds’ story….
A few years back I had a wisdom tooth that needed removed…only problem was it was close/sitting on a nerve. The one that controls sensation from mid lip line to the corner of the mouth and down the chin. Significant if one is kissing. Or dribbling soup on your chin 😉
I’ll always remember that when I asked the doctor what the odds were of nerve damage happening, he said…

‘If it happens to you, the odds are 100%. The others (odds) don’t really matter.’

Yes, just stop and sit with that for a moment.
And then realize this:

Be inspired by what happens for others but never use it as an odds maker for your life.

Your journey is your journey. Mine is mine. Theirs is theirs. We will all arrive and it will be by a thousand and more different paths. How it came together, to be, for someone else doesn’t tell you anything about how it’s going to work for you.
None of the things that I thought had to happen for me to have a signature look, do paintings that I was happy with, have an art life that I love… happened. 
What had worked for someone else seemed to have no bearing on what happened to me. Life is funny AND wonderful like that.
As Emerson said, “Do not go where the path may lead [or where the odds say you should go], go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
The path is your path and it is not determined by the odds.
When it crosses your mind to wonder ‘how long did it take…’ flip the question.
Ask yourself why you feel like you need to know. If it’s because that you fear the odds are stacked against you just remember this.
For every predictable outcome there are other stories that don’t jive with the odds.
Charlie and Noah Kinney, folk artists from the county I grew up in, made folk art. They lived out their lives in the humble house they were born in. Folks came from around the world to visit them and see their art. Their work is in the Smithsonian.
What are the odds?
Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau are some of America’s finest writers.  They all lived in Concord, Massachusetts and they all knew each other.
What are the odds?
Remember Susan Boyle? A shy, never heard of before 48 year old singer who simply entered a talent contest in Britain. Her album ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ broke the record for the most pre-ordered album, ever, in Amazon history.
What are the odds?
Be encouraged.
Create.
Love where you are and your journey.
And remember when you are wondering about ‘what are the odds?’…
The odds don’t really matter 😉

Note: I have had so many things happen that defy the odds.
What are the odds that Justin Platt of Main Street Media would live across the street from me? That’s him with the camera and he’s the awesome videographer for the Dream.Love.Paint Courses!  The sweet gal is Cristina who was our interpreter while we traveled/filmed/painted in France.
Keep scrolling and reading because I want to know…

What’s one of your ‘what are the odds?’ stories?  Leave a comment to inspire!

P.S. Once Upon a Time in Provence, my online painting adventure, will be opening again for enrollment September 7, 2107. So much joy and so many great comments!