by Marty Coleman | Jan 13, 2016 | Body Image - 2016, 2013, Cheri Erdman |
Purchase the Original Drawing | Print | Print Series
Strength of Body
I have known plenty of seemingly beautiful thin people who couldn’t do a push up to save their lives. I have also known many seemingly overweight, average looking people who can run marathons, do 20 burpees in a row, work in their garden all day long, take care of their families morning to night, and kayak in open water for hours.
Strength of Emotion
I have known plenty of seemingly beautiful thin people who have an even thinner emotional shell. The slightest thing, inconsequential and trivial, will set them off into emotional tirades. I have also known many seemingly overweight, average looking people who can express themselves effectively and honestly in a wide range of emotions appropriate to the events and circumstances of their day.
Strength of Mind
I have known plenty of seemingly beautiful thin people who wouldn’t know their mind if it rang their doorbell and asked to be let in. I have also known many seemingly overweight, average looking people who are smart, wise, insightful, creative, astute, practical problem solvers, philosophers, leaders, entertainers, opinion makers.
Strength of Individuality
And finally, I have known plenty of seemingly beautiful thin people who are all those positive things as well. All sizes can be those things.
Beautiful does not equal good, thin does not equal fit, educated does not equal wise.
Drawing and commentary © 2016 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote is adapted from one by Cheri K. Erdman
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by Marty Coleman | Jan 5, 2016 | Anonymous, Opinions - 2016 |
Note that it does not say “Lions do not take into consideration the opinions of sheep.” It says they won’t fret unnecessarily over them. They won’t take the out of context and will not blow them up to be more important than they are.
If you listen to the blithering buffoons on talk radio, you know their job is to get people riled up and wanting to come back for more. They want ratings so they do their best to push people into extreme positions en masse. They want followers, in other words. They want sheep.
A lion (metaphoric, not actual) doesn’t need to bend to every wind of opinion or every idea espoused by someone, especially someone who is obviously under the uneducated influence of one extremity or another. A lion sets his or her own course based on intellect, education, exposure, open-mindedness and experience, all the while listening and considering other’s opinions, just not overreacting to them.
Are you a Lion?
Drawing and commentary © 2016 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote is anonymous
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 31, 2015 | Be It Resolved - 2012, Mark Twain |
Resolutions are best made regarding behaviors, not outcomes. In other words, don’t say “I will lose 25 lbs, that is an outcome. Instead say, “I will exercise 3 days a week”, or “I will reduce my meal portions by 1/3.” those are behaviors.
Drawing © 2015 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote by Mark Twain
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 20, 2015 | Anonymous, Christmas |
More Stress
There really is barely any other time of the year that can engender such high levels of stress among parents and families as Christmas. Why is that? It’s the same reason stress rears its ugly head at any other time, expectations of perfection. The tree needs to be perfect, the food, the presents, the living arrangements, the activities, the conversation, the travel plans, and more. The perceived need for perfection is the recipe for stress.
Less Stress
Then why do certain families not have the same level of stress as others at Christmas time? It certainly isn’t that they decorate less or plan less or do less. It’s because they have all those activities in their proper place, as secondary to love. Loving their family and friends is what drives them, not presenting perfection to them.
What is most important
That doesn’t mean you aren’t showing love by making a beautiful Christmas experience for them. Working hard to make it all be fantastic is great. What isn’t great is thinking that if everything isn’t perfect you have failed. Because failure comes from your family walking away from Christmas feeling stressed themselves. Success comes from them feeling loved.
Focus on that and you won’t let Christmas get your tinsel in a tangle.
Drawing and commentary © 2015 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote was contributed by @Lornaknits on Periscope for our monthly drawing giveaway. The Best Christmas Quote was this month and this one got the most votes. Congrats Lorna!
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 9, 2015 | Anonymous, Beauty - 2009, 2015 |
Everything?
Do you believe this? It can be confusing, can’t it. As an artist I like to think I have a broad yet discerning eye for beauty. I think many things are beautiful. Many people, many objects, many places. But I don’t think everything is beautiful.
But I also know that what I find beautiful is not what everyone does. And what I find ugly someone finds beautiful. All you have to do is look at style trends in clothing and makeup for women to see how different the idea of beauty can be around the world. The same is true of music. Think of how dissonant music from other lands sometimes sounds to your ear. Then realize that same music is heard as sublime in the country of origin.
There is the famous story of Tchaikovsky’s first playing of the ‘Rite of Spring’ ballet. It was thought of as so terrible it provoked an actual riot in Paris, 1913 at it’s debut. You can read the story about it here. But when it was played a year later it was met with tremendous applause. Why the radical change in response? Because the dissonance heard the first night, so screeching and grating, was no longer heard the same way a year later. The listeners were able to hear the rhythms, the harmonies, the structure the second time around. The were able to hear the beauty.
And so, while as an artist I have my ideas of beauty, I also am wise enough to know that just because I don’t think something is beautiful doesn’t mean it’s not. It just isn’t to me.
Not Everything?
So, The question should be asked, if everything is beautiful, how can something not be? My take on it is not that something isn’t beautiful. It’s that it is more than just beautiful. Beauty is but one filter through which we see the world. We also have filters of love and hate, of statistics and science. We have filters of history and time, of biology and spirit. In other words, while everything is beautiful, it is not all it is. Everything is other things as well.
Transformation
What examples can you think of that show something ugly eventually becoming something seen as beautiful? What or who do you think is beautiful? What else are they?
Drawing & commentary © 2015 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote is Anonymous
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by Marty Coleman | Dec 3, 2015 | Anonymous, Bad Habits - 2011 |
Near is Easy
Have you ever started something and not finished it? Of course you have. We all have. Granted, some more than others. I am probably in the middle of the pack. I finish a lot but then again there is plenty I don’t finish. Most of what I don’t finish doesn’t ever get beyond the idea stage. If you are like me, even a little bit, the enthusiasm hits hard but implementation fails as the enthusiasm wanes.
Far is Easy
The goal is always so glorious, isn’t it? We all imagine the feeling of winning, or publishing, or fame, or wealth, or a secure relationship. It’s easy to imagine that joy. It’s easy to say you want that happiness. It’s easy to say you are going to do the work to get that wealth. But imagination and saying something aren’t what makes it happen.
In Between is Hard
So how do you keep going during those long stretches where the enthusiasm has waned, the money has drained and the relationship has pained? Of course you need to have that goal in mind. You have to have hope that you can reach it. But it is more than that. The truth is you aren’t always doing something for the feeling it gives you at the moment. You are living through that feeling so that you will reach a finish line where great feelings and great achievements will come to fruition. It might be a book you write, it might be a painting you paint, it might be a relationship you develop.
Making Hard Easy
You can’t make hard easy. But you can make it easier. You make it easier by practicing habits. The habit of getting up every morning and doing 10 push ups will make getting in shape easier, no matter how hard it is. The practice of writing that email to a business connection each morning will make the hard work of networking easier, no matter how hard it is. The practice of saying (and meaning) something loving and kind to your relationship partner each morning will make it easier to build the relationship, no matter how hard it is.
In other words, you aren’t trying to make something hard into something easy. You are trying to make it easier to do something hard. Making a habit of the things that help you along that path is one way to do that.
Drawing and commentary © 2015 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote by Anonymous
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 28, 2015 | Anonymous, Shop 'Til You Drop - 2013 |
The Naked Closet
I wonder, if closets could think, what would they say? Do you think they would be as indecisive as many woman (and men) are in deciding what to wear? Do you think they would make emotional decisions, or maybe aesthetic ones? Would they be practical, or maybe purposefully reactionary? Would they dress you with nostalgia in mind or maybe with an eye to impress the world. Would they fight you?
The Naked Human
Closets can’t think. But the idea is interesting because it illustrates so many of the reasons we dress. And for many of us, our possibilities are wider than they were 50 years ago. My father was going to wear a suit and tie to work, no discussion about it. For a night out my mother would wear a dress, no real consideration went into wearing pants. That just wasn’t going to happen. Even a trip to the market was cause to dress up, at least a little bit.
But now work clothes can, in many cases, be casual clothes. They can be fitness clothes even. And clothing designated for going out to a nice dinner can range from t-shirts (for either sex) all the way to a dress and suit and tie. That same market shopping trip? Now it can be done in pajamas.
The freedom make our choices harder, not easier. With all that freedom we have a lot more to choose from in every case.
Sort of dresser
What sort of dresser are you? Do you dress emotionally, practically, aesthetically, or maybe nostalgically?
Drawing and commentary © 2015 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote is Anonymous
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 26, 2015 | Gratitude - 2010/2011, Paul Sweeney |
Happy Thanksgiving
I know there are many in the US who do live on the edge of tragedy most every day. But I don’t think I am ignoring or diminishing their plight to say that overall we are blessed to be safe, secure and sustained at a level that exceeds most of the world. I am grateful for that and don’t take it for granted.
Drawing and commentary © 2015 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote by Paul Sweeney
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 25, 2015 | Agnes of Florida, Political Correctness |
What I Say
What more needs to be said? Oh, I know. To make sure I am not doing this I remember it’s not about looking at others and saying, “They are the ones who think alike.” It about looking in the mirror and saying it.
Drawing and commentary © 2015 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote by Agnes of Florida
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 18, 2015 | Paul Johnson, Political Correctness |
The Good PC
I believe in good political correctness. That doesn’t mean I believe people shouldn’t be free to say what they think. It means I believe that if a group of people say they are offended by something then I am going to take a look at it. If I can be more respectful of my fellow citizens then I am going to be. If African Americans are offended by the Confederate flag being flown, I am all for having it taken down. Why? Because my fellow citizens don’t deserve to be offended on purpose.
The Bad PC
I do not believe in bad political correctness. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in being sensitive and respectful, I do. What it means is I believe people can hold an opinion that is in the minority and not also be an evil or bad person. I will not condemn them for holding an opinion I do not agree with. If the circumstances are right, I will disagree with them and argue as persuasively as I can against their opinion. But I am not going to declare they are ineligible for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness because of it. They also are not ineligible for making a living, having a family, being accepted into society.
Limits
There are limits to that position. For example, if a teacher does not believe the Holocaust occurred and tries to teach it to my children, I will do everything I can to have them removed. They are still free of course to believe it, but I am not willingly going to allow them influence over my children. But as I argue against them being employed by the school district I will still use good manners and treat them with civility.
Manners and Grace
Every person has an opinion you disagree with. The friend you invite into your home should be known to not be a terrorist, I agree. But they can’t be vetted for every possible disagreeable position they hold before you invite them in. If they were vetted in such a way, guess what? They won’t accept your invitation to visit because they will see you as a self-righteous, judgmental jerk, which is what you will have proven yourself to be.
Drawing and commentary © 2015 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote by Paul Johnson, 1928 – not dead yet, English Author
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