Each of Us Is Special!

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. Marcel Proust

To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides. David Viscott

Love cures people — both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. Karl A Messinger

Like a cherished and ‘Priceless’ Pink Diamond the rarity of each person is part and parcel of who you are. As you are indeed rare, special, and priceless you need not conform to or imitate others. You must be proud of who you are and celebrate your difference, unique talents, and stay true to yourself. You are uniquely qualified to be the genuine person you are designed to be.

You need to fine-tune this gift of rarity to ensure that it remains precious and does no harm to others. It is not so easy to constantly achieve in your everyday dealings with others.

Be satisfied as long as you are doing your best and seek forgiveness from those you hurt. Then you remain ‘special’ and ‘rare’ and indeed still are your own ‘pink diamond’. Your rarity is ‘priceless and worth being by JUST BEING! I am, you are, Truly Special.

Your responsibility to others by being rare and special boils down, to two simple directives. Doing what is right and what is fair.

Easier said than done you may well suggest. Each of us has different standards upon which we classify as right and fair. For me, as a follower of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior — His two Commandments are my true compass. I try to base all my thoughts, words, and actions on those two commandments. I of course at times fail and I apologize to those I have offended. Yet, when I do succeed I treat others and myself with respect and dignity.

In addition, I was blessed with parents that believed in leading by example. My mum and dad always treated others politely, with respect and dignity. They treated animals with kindness and with love. They tended their fruit and flower gardens as if they were a gift from God — as indeed they were. I can proudly say I never heard either mum or dad swear. Though I must admit I often gave them a reason to.

Of course, they weren’t perfect but always apologized to me and others when needed. There were times for laughter in my family home. My friends were always made to feel welcome and my family dog was cherished.

And, one lesson which I strive to perfect every day is to treat each person I meet with respect and dignity. Step back for just a moment if you would, please. Are you hurt when someone disrespects your beliefs and hurts your feelings? I know I am.

So, gently remind yourself that others too have feelings to be respected and indeed highly regarded. I am part of the Moree community as an artist, volunteer, friend, and every other role we all play in our daily lives. Each of these roles involves interaction with other people. I strive, of course at times fail, to treat each person with respect, cheerfulness, and dignity.

For me, a sincere and true ‘lady’ has a “gentle strength, love of beauty, care and nurturing.” (15 Minutes Alone With God. Emilie Barnes, P. 287)

What better aspiration is there to have as an artist than to use the lessons instilled in me by my parents to be a ‘lady’. In showing gentleness, genuineness, and honesty through my art and writings. I am expressing respect to Australian art collectors and my readers.

Being an artist with my God-given ability to put brush to canvas is something I can now give back to others. Just one aesthetically pleasing original oil painting can lighten up the life of a person’s home. And, in my small way say I love Australia and I care for you!.

Being a member of a family and the Moree community as well as an artist brings at times rejection. What exactly is one of these rejections you may well ask? The pain of rejection I experience when a painting is not sold for a while or nobody subscribes to my blog on my website. Have you had times when rejection has impacted you deeply? Did this hurt more than it should have?

I am so lucky that I have my painting and my writing to turn when rejection bites. I am a person that does not turn to my family with my problems and tries to struggle on by myself.

Of course, I must admit it is not always easy to take brush in hand and continue painting. Yet, I am always glad I do. Very soon the feelings of rejection and hurt are replaced by joy as I float away to my little island of ‘creativity’.

We all have our means of self-healing, be it turning to family or friends, taking our beloved dog for a walk, or reading a favourite book. Whatever we do to hunt the negative emotions away and replace them again with joy and hope works as a calming balm. Once again preventing even greater pain. For me it always works, continuing a seascape original painting or storytelling on Medium, is well worth the effort.

Another truly amazing model that being an artist gives me is the stillness/calmness of the actual creative process. Unfortunately, I as we all do, have so many roles to perform and so many acts to play in. In today’s society, there never seems to be enough time.

I often step back and ask myself what would life be without joy in the world? Then I find the answer for me is in my painting and writing, in being with family and friends, volunteering in the local community, and spending time in the great outdoors. And come to think of it. Just BEING!.

I have a purpose and that purpose, for now, is to tell of Australia’s beauty in oils on canvas and to now be a storyteller. Life is GREAT!

From my perspective, I do indeed shed a little joy. I feel I do this by just being me. You do this by just being YOU! My encounters with family, friends and others permit me an opportunity to spread joy and hope and show them they are rare and special too. Each person I meet is also a ‘Pink Diamond’ truly priceless and deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. And this I do to the best of my ability and apologize when I hurt or offend in any way.

It is a warm autumn day here in Moree. I still do not have any white paint. Therefore, I still cannot complete my seascape painting. So, I am writing this story for my Medium readers and others. I am using my downtime from painting to creating pictures in words, which hopefully carry treats and refresh my readers. I feel exceptionally blessed to have the God-given ability to capture my thoughts on my keyboard. To write out my story’s drafts type my story then press Publish. Then my simple story floats from my fingertips over the internet to the world.

How blessed and privileged I am to live in Australia where I am free to paint and write as I please. How blessed I am to reach people all over the world with my simple musings of hope, peace, joy, and beauty.

Oh, if only I could capture the rarity of you, and me, in my paintings. Quite impossible!!! Wait a moment here. That is what I am achieving in this simple story. In just a small way, a very small way. You, and I, indeed all people have a unique portrait needing to be nurtured and protected.

This story is emphasizing the rarity of you and I, hopefully enriching each reader’s day if even just a little.

As you spend time with family and friends do you feel valued, special, and loved?

Are there times in your life you simply want to sing for joy? Then, know that is exactly how I feel brush in hand or fingers flying over the keyboard. I am ‘storytelling’. I have a tremendous gift and its in-built responsibility is to tell my stories honestly whilst not harm others. Firstly, by creating aesthetically pleasing original oil paintings and now painting my stories in words.

This double-edged sword incurs responsibilities. I must ensure my paintings and written stories are honest and do no harm. My paintings must capture Australia in its true light respecting its Indigenous family.

I respect you.

This article is also published in Medium.

https://dianemarkey920.medium.com/i-am-you-are-special-truly-rare-truly-priceless-937679cb5df5

If you found something in it and its images that you enjoyed. Please do forward me a comment, Diane.