Make Yourself unavailable for the time being

I loved painting once upon a time.

Yes, once upon a time. And I could remember this beauty in my life when I saw a picture my son drew for the republic day.

I used to be a pro who won some hearts and some prizes with his drawing works.

Drawing upon my memory, I can tell you that there was a sketch that I made of Kapil Dev by seeing a note book cover in 4std. It came close to its real counterpart!

I wasn’t good the way my son is. He knows so much about the tools and the techniques to be used to create a good piece of fine arts. May be his pedigree. But a lot goes to him for his quite observation and their expression through fine curves on paper.

Fine arts calls for time. If you have time at your disposal you can create wonders provided you are at peace with yourself. So, basically *_you need peaceful time to be with yourself to become an artist._*

And he got that during COVID times. The schools were locked and the children did not have to listen to the rantings of their parents to study. _Because that was the time to survive_ .

We survived those times and Bittu thrived to become an artist. 

Now, coming back to what triggered this piece of writing! I wondered why I could no longer enjoy drawing, sketching or painting for that matter when I could have the best of tools to do it.

At the same time, I wonder what led me to become a marathon runner that called upon me to input humungous efforts on a daily basis to come this far at this age !

I was just trying to figure out the success code and the failure codes. The failure to further pursue arts and the success to pursue long distance running at an unconventional age.

And this is what I came up with:

Time with yourself

Painting or drawing would call for patient sittings for hours together.  But I can’t get them at this age.

If I am sitting, I am either sitting for work to earn or do some household or miscellaneous work. If I am found, I think, drawing at my desk, I would be reprimanded to look after and attend to more urgent things like fetching groceries from the store or taking the kids to study and getting their hone work done.    I mean I am expected to act like an ADULT you see !

On the other hand, running is about moving out of the home, beyond your workplace and out in the open. Here no one can come to watch upon you and reprimand you.  You disconnect yourself from the social world and liberate yourself for the time you run.

Initially when I started, I was told to act like a grown up ADULT . But, I realised I had to suffer those few minutes only before and after the run and the large chunk of my time, I could fly and be with myself. It was a good deal.

Being productive

If I would sit for drawing, I would hardly be productive in terms of my main goals in life. A piece of drawing would only matter if it could become the source of revenue. And that may take years !

On the other hand, running and working out produced immediate results for my health. I received immediate response in my body and mind. I could feel fresh and energized. My whole day went well as I could find the mental strength I generated during those morning hours of running. And eventually I found my way to running a marathon.

Running spill overs

I cannot generate revenue from running. But it did provide me results and help me create an impact. People come to me to seek advice on health and running.

Inspired, I started to collect my ideas and experiences in the form of a blog that fed on my writing skills as I wanted to be a writer for long time. It also brings the hope that I may generate revenues from my writing works in the future.

So, that’s what I believe was lost to drawing works and profited by running world for me. One thing that has however remained common within me is the restlessness to be creative and define my identity as not just another bloke on the road!