Dianna Cates Dunn » Blog

I was away from home, visiting much loved family, reading late at night "The Long Way Home" by Louise Penny. I was about three quarters of the way through the book,these words leapt out at me. 

    "By offering a second chance. One last chance. Don't get me wrong, I believe in using your head. But not in spending too much time in there.  Fear lives in the head. And courage lives in the heart. The job is to get from one to the other.

    "And between the two is the lump in the throat" said Gamache.

(Ruth and Inspector Gamache,  two of the books main characters discussing the creative crisis that Peter, a successful artist, is having.)

Over the past few years, I have had the pleasure of reading most of what Ms. Penny has published. She has a unique and, in my way of thinking, an incredible gift of developing characters from the 'inside out'. Meaning that each individual written about has their inner-most motivations respectfully and thoughtfully revealed. The results are that, as a reader, you not only get to know her characters, you get to feel her characters.

My heart sort of went ker-thump when I read this. Every word so related to me and my artistic experience. At thirty I chose to play it safe with a traditional career rather that following my heart that said "move to Santa Fe and paint". But at forty some odd, I was given a second- and what I believed to be- one last chance to pursue my dream. AND I TOOK IT! I finally let the courage of my heart overrule the fear that lived in my head. But that was only the first step. For me, it is a battle that must be re-fought on occasions, but the first battle was by far the most difficult. No, I did not move to Santa Fe, but I did start -and do- practice my craft everyday here in Colorado. (Heck, I'm only a five hour drive from Santa Fe, and I25 have become great friends over the years!)

Oh, and that lump in the throat feeling? Well, that comes and goes. Oddly, it's when I am not feeling any lump there that I now pay attention to what I am painting and how I am artistically growing. You see, only when I am pushing my limits- my creative boundaries, does that old lump in the throat reappears. So, when it gets hard for me to swallow, I now know to listen closely to what my heart is telling me and to balance that with the wisdom stashed in my head...... not with the fear that apparently still has an apartment there.

Summation?? Every artist knows that the path chosen is not an easy one. BUT THE REWARDS?????? Life experienced at if fullest!

Do I hear an amen?