Page 27 - voicesdec2014
P. 27
e Life as a Winner!
By Blake Hodgetts, CC
Sometimes life lessons aren't looked for, but just surprised when her name was not called: it turned
drop into your lap. My mother is a semi- out that the information she'd been given was
professional artist and a freelance art curator. mistaken, and in fact her artwork had not been
During the last decade she has busied herself selected. Although she was disappointed, she
putting together art shows around the southern realized that in fact she'd been given a tremendous
Oregon Coast. She's also a member of the Oregon
Watercolor Society and attends yearly conventions,
as well as submitting artwork to the annual juried
art show sponsored by the society. The show is very
competitive and for a number of years, her artwork
hadn't been selected.
This year she was collaborating on some of the gift: freed from the concern of whether she'd
preparations for the convention with a woman who "succeeded" or not, she was able to enjoy the day as
was involved with the judging of the submissions. much as if she'd gotten a piece into the show, and
As in other years, my mother had some artworks in was able to see that it didn't really matter that
contention. The day before the winners were to be much.
announced, the woman confided to my mother, "I
shouldn't be telling you this, but they've selected The moral I take from this story is that we should
one of your pieces for the show." each live every day as if we are a winner. Whether
we actually end up victorious or not, we'll be a lot
My mother was surprised and delighted by this happier on our journey through life!
advance information. The next day, she woke with a
positive feeling and found that she was able to Article reprinted by permission from the Capital
participate in the various convention events with a News , the monthly newsletter published by Capital
carefree attitude. In other years, she had found Toastmasters. Blake Hodgetts joined Toastmasters in
herself obsessing over the competition, worrying 2006, and is the VP Membership for the club.
about whether she'd been "good enough" or not.
Usually she found the stress of this distracting
enough that she had trouble concentrating on the
rest of the convention. This time, however, this
weight was taken off her shoulders. She thoroughly
enjoyed the workshops and informal art displays.
When the time came for the announcement of the
winners, my mother was relaxed and calm. She was
27
By Blake Hodgetts, CC
Sometimes life lessons aren't looked for, but just surprised when her name was not called: it turned
drop into your lap. My mother is a semi- out that the information she'd been given was
professional artist and a freelance art curator. mistaken, and in fact her artwork had not been
During the last decade she has busied herself selected. Although she was disappointed, she
putting together art shows around the southern realized that in fact she'd been given a tremendous
Oregon Coast. She's also a member of the Oregon
Watercolor Society and attends yearly conventions,
as well as submitting artwork to the annual juried
art show sponsored by the society. The show is very
competitive and for a number of years, her artwork
hadn't been selected.
This year she was collaborating on some of the gift: freed from the concern of whether she'd
preparations for the convention with a woman who "succeeded" or not, she was able to enjoy the day as
was involved with the judging of the submissions. much as if she'd gotten a piece into the show, and
As in other years, my mother had some artworks in was able to see that it didn't really matter that
contention. The day before the winners were to be much.
announced, the woman confided to my mother, "I
shouldn't be telling you this, but they've selected The moral I take from this story is that we should
one of your pieces for the show." each live every day as if we are a winner. Whether
we actually end up victorious or not, we'll be a lot
My mother was surprised and delighted by this happier on our journey through life!
advance information. The next day, she woke with a
positive feeling and found that she was able to Article reprinted by permission from the Capital
participate in the various convention events with a News , the monthly newsletter published by Capital
carefree attitude. In other years, she had found Toastmasters. Blake Hodgetts joined Toastmasters in
herself obsessing over the competition, worrying 2006, and is the VP Membership for the club.
about whether she'd been "good enough" or not.
Usually she found the stress of this distracting
enough that she had trouble concentrating on the
rest of the convention. This time, however, this
weight was taken off her shoulders. She thoroughly
enjoyed the workshops and informal art displays.
When the time came for the announcement of the
winners, my mother was relaxed and calm. She was
27
