“Every artist dips his brush into his own soul and paints his own nature into his pictures.”
-Henry Ward Beecher 

So what color has your brush dipped into with this new year’s beginning?
I posted this Beecher quote on my Facebook page close to a year’s ending (but it can
works any time of the year). It spoke to me deeply when I first read it. I subscribe to the
belief that we are all artists. Some of us spend more time in the studio than others, but
that does not disqualify the rest of us as artists… They’re just more trained and
practiced than you and I.

There were some “likes” with this FB quote on my new year entry, and some FB friends
took the time to express the color they were painting with as their new year began.
I have a confession, lest you think I am brilliant, wonderful, and successful:
At the present, I feel like the tip of my paintbrush has every color on it, leaving a grayish
globby stroke on the page of my life. It’s like when you take all the beautiful playdoh
colors and mix all of them together (which is fun) but eventually the playdoh turns gray.
And it can turn hard and cold because there’s not much possibility for creativity with that
gray lump of playdoh.

Here’s why mine is gray. I have too many colors to choose from. I feel pulled and
pushed – even creatively. I long to get to a blank canvas with a simple paint palette of
only two, three colors tops.

A new fresh year can also overwhelm us. There’s so much we’re restarting, plugging
into, taking on, hoping for, wanting to accomplish. I have said too many “yeses” and
very few “nos” already.

And even now as I confess that, I hear a kind and wise mentor’s voice say, “Clear the
desk, Melea.” This can be quite the literal task for a writer, too. Take everything off of
your desk.  Now, evaluate what goes back onto your desk.

And so right after I finish this blog entry, I am going to clear the desk. LITERALLY!
By clearing the desk, I will be able to prioritize what goes back onto this space – things
that will prompt my soul as a writer and storyteller. What is there will feed and propel
me, speak to me, ground me, and serve my needs when I sit in that space.
Perhaps, there is some other place in your life that needs a “clearing of the desk”. Think
metaphor here: Could it be a few shelves in the garage, your car, a junk drawer, the
pantry, a guest room closet… just to name a few? Actually, doing these declutter things
are good for our mental health. Yes, there’s a psychological benefit to cleaning a junk
drawer (quiets the mind, turns off anxious thoughts, feels good because it’s an
accomplishment).

I urge you to not be dismayed by the date on your calendar today. It could be your
birthday month is a great time to “clear the desk”. A new school year (the fall/spring) is a
great time to “clear the desk”. The finish of a humongous project is a great time to “clear
the desk”. Maybe once a quarter, on the 30 th , you “clear the desk”, or maybe it’s
whenever to want to do so.

Oh, along with clearing off the desk I am going to buy a new set of playdoh – the 10-
color pack kind for $7.99. There’s nothing better than the feel and smell of fresh
playdoh.

So, what color will your brush dip into as you “clear the desk”?