Birdy Be You
Painting by Heather Harrington | Titled: Birdy Be You | Acrylic on Wood Board Canvas 8” x 8” x 1.5”
Years ago, I would never admit to myself what I really wanted. Instead, I would bury those desires deep and not talk about them or let them out. I would distract myself with other things and purchases so that I wouldn’t have to face my real reality.
For a while, I made excuses for why I felt this way and who was responsible for it. Then I realized (not soon enough), that no one was responsible but me. No matter what I tried to distract myself with the same feeling of frustration, sadness and emptiness kept washing over me. And those feelings often kept me up late at night in tears.
What finally changed? My mindset. I reached a point that I was tired of being fearful and sad. So I owned up to what I really wanted to focus on in my life. I asked myself, what’s the worst that can happen? Somehow envisioning the worst case scenario didn’t seem as daunting as never living up to what I wanted my life to be. And I started making changes—small at first, but when I was ready, large life-changing moves. I’ve never once regretted making these changes and not only did my worst case scenario not play out, but the life I had envisioned slowly started to become my reality.
I created the painting above after seeing a beautiful cardinal sitting by itself in a tree near my house. It reminded me of how far I’ve come from those early days of hiding who I wanted to be. And while I am still a work in progress, it feels good most days to be like the cardinal, content and happy with where I’m at. The above painting is titled “Birdy Be You” and was inspired by that pretty little cardinal spotted in northern Michigan.
I hope you enjoy the painting and perhaps the next time you see a cardinal or a bird sitting quietly on a tree branch it makes you smile and maybe even wonder what could be!
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Painting by Heather Harrington | Titled: Birdy Be You | Acrylic on Wood Board Canvas
