I come from a very artistic family. The skills my aunts, cousins and brother have is amazing and so diverse. My own artistic abilities, is fun paint at home, décor, a bit of musicality and a critical eye. Jack of all trades – master of none. Except of course – the critical eye.

When I saw the paint by numbers trend, I thought that it was an absolute amazing idea. You don’t have to overthink it, we’ve all coloured by numbers as children and you will end up with a really pretty picture. It’s ideal for an after-work activity, to just relax. Or so I thought.

The amount of frustrations I felt with my first paint by numbers kit is difficult to explain. It’s not best to paint in chronological SEQUENCE. In other words – 1 is merely a number, not a placement. The restriction to artistic ability was beyond maddening. The numbers were so tiny I had to remove my contact lenses. Which of course rendered me almost completely blind to anything other than that number in front of me.

So many numbers, so many small dots, so many broken necks (the same one), stiff shoulder, awkward shoulder. I’m sure I did everything the instructions told me not to do. Not to sound ignorant – it’s paint by numbers, for pete’s sake! I was at the desk, on the floor, the couch, the kitchen. And despite that, it only stressed me out.

I told myself: never again. I cannot be contained like that.

But as I saw the pretty picture whenever I walked into my entryway – I wondered if surely, I cannot make it better for me. What if my approach was just not good enough?

And I changed my approach. I got a nice magnifying glass to work with, I stayed at the desk. Instead of starting with numbers, I started with the big areas, regardless of the number and I only did 2 numbers each night. I still didn’t like the restriction, but it actually worked for its intended purpose – relaxation.

While working on it, all I could see was numbers and dots and stripes and lines. But the moment it was completed – it was a gorgeous picture.

Sometimes in life, our frustrations are caused by the small inconveniences in front of us, that we look at through magnifying glasses or spectacles. We miss the bigger picture. And it’s so easy to get frustrated and give up. Sometimes the picture changes a little bit too much the longer we look at it, and we need to take a step back and look at it from a different perspective.

Sometimes, we know when the picture is done and when to walk away from it.

I have learned that in life, two people can have access to the exact same picture, but still not see the same thing. Does it make one of them more wrong than the other? Maybe sometimes. Maybe sometimes one person is not capable of seeing the same picture, because of things from the past that’s blinded them. Some issues growing up they never truly accepted.

Or maybe they just appreciate different things. Preference also plays a role. Not everyone likes pink or purple. I don’t. But that doesn’t mean that others are not allowed to wear it. And when it comes to what we prefer to hang on our walls – some will always see the beauty in the abstract, while others crave the realism.

But it’s never yet a big picture if you only focus on the small details. The small details are important to make it well-rounded and skilled. But you still have to step away to map it out in full.

My challenge for you this week is to step away from everything that you have been zooming in so closely lately. Step away and look at the bigger picture. Change the angle even, if you must. But take time to step away and appreciate your progress to date.

Have a lovely week, friends!