First napkin i’ve drawn in many, many months. We moved from Oklahoma to Texas and pretty much all my art has been on hold for all of 2020 so far. But to be honest, I wasn’t drawing on napkins much in 2019 either, or 2018. But I have been drawing in my sketchbook regularly and that held more interest for me so that is where I focused my attention.
Anyway, I wasn’t planning on doing a napkin drawing but I was sitting at in my studio watching and contributing via zoom with our community group from our old church in Tulsa. The technology was a bit wonky that day and I got a bit bored so I picked up a napkin and just started drawing. We were talking about some serious issues within the church, primarily the role of women. Our community group is filled with strong, intelligent women who fight the good fight every day to have more equality for women in every area of church leadership and activity.
The truth is, if you are going to affect change in any institution, you are most likely going to do it from the inside, which means you have to pick your fights. Fight too much and your ability to influence diminishes. Fight too little and the status quo wins the day. It’s not an easy path for them (or the men who support them) and they understandably get frustrated often.
So, while I was listening to the discussion I thought of how hot potato (or button but a button was not as fun to draw) issues can only be held tight for so long, then you have to drop them, let them cool before you pick them up again. You aren’t giving up the fight, you are being strategic about when to fight.
After all, the goal is not to fight. The goal is to win. If you can win without a fight, great. But you are always ready to fight if you have to.
Drawing and commentary © 2020 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com