Another Beautiful Thing

I spent all morning today changing settings and organizing my Facebook. I found I had four requests from people who wanted to see my paintings, which was wonderful — but my website was down, which was a real bummer. Fortunately, my daughter, Kate, had made a profile for my watercolors on Facebook long ago, which I realized I could use until my website is back up. So, I went and looked at it.

I read through old postings and followed links, realizing more and more just how much work Kate put into it for me. She didn’t just set it up and post my pictures; she also looked into art groups where she then registered, responded to people who posted nice things about my work, and generally did what she could to make my page a success. I was so touched by some of the things she wrote, so grateful for the effort she put into my page, so humbled by how she did it all behind the scenes without even letting me know what all she was doing for me.

I’m terrible at maintenance. I’m a good organizer (initially) and I know what needs to be done, but I’m terrible at doing it. I always have such good intentions about checking things every day, dealing with things NOW instead of, well, whenever, putting things on my calendar, being responsible – but I stink at all of that. I’m easily distracted, curious, prone to enthusiasm. I love big undertakings, extravagant projects (like, um, the model I’m working on right now), and often jump from one to another. Strangely enough, I also love tiny miniatures, perfect details, authenticity. And I’m pretty good at those things. When I start an ambitious project, it usually works out pretty well. But please don’t ask me if a bill is paid, or what I did with the message I took for you yesterday, or if I mailed the registration and fee for the art show where I’m supposed to show my work. I’m likely to say, “Bill? Message? Art Show? Cool! I’ll put together a really great display for it. Maybe something with pillars....Let me go get my sketchpad!”

Kate, however, is much more well-rounded. She’s creative, like me, but somehow she’s also responsible, dependable, and thorough. I can only assume she got that all from her father, because I know not a single one of those chromosomes came from me! She’s beautiful, too, and slim, which I think is just a little bit unfair, but I won’t belabor that point because she’s also one of the most generous people I know. (Both of my girls are, actually, which is a constant joy to me.) Her unsung work on my page was a surprise, but not surprising: it's just who she is.

I started out intending to say that today's beautiful thing was the joy of being part of a team -- working together with differing talents toward a single goal...but it turns out that the most beautiful thing I found today was the quiet, loving generosity of my girl.