SUBLIMATE

SUBLIMATE

I had not seen my favorite 7- and 10-year-old girls (my favorite 6- and 9-year-old are boys) for almost three weeks. I was excited to have them come for a visit which I knew would be fun and informative. Shortly after arriving, the oldest announced that she had some things to show us that she learned while we were away. She started watching TV and I forgot the announcement. She did not. After their favorite and my least favorite dinner, tacos, she went to the craft box to retrieve the supplies needed for her projects – origami and painting.

Two origami swans now adorn the dresser in my bedroom. The painting, a peace sign, took on glitz and glamour when a tube of silver glitter glue was discovered in the craft box and a significant amount was added just before her departure for home. I immediately hung the drawing on the refrigerator and the results are what you see in the attached photo… a streak of silver glue.

If you look with a critical eye at the drawing, you might notice that the length of the two extended fingers are reversed and certainly you will notice the trail that the glue created as it rolled down the paper… mistakes made by the artist and by me.

Salvador Dali, renowned surrealist artist, said this about mistakes, “Never try to correct them. On the contrary, rationalize them, understand them thoroughly. After that, it will be possible for you to sublimate them.” (Sublimate – to change the form, but not the essence…to divert the expression from the unacceptable form to one that is more acceptable.)

I did not know Salvador’s words when the budding artist came back a couple of days later and looked upon her work with dismay as I knew she would. I knew I could not correct the trail of glue. I stared at the painting, and it spoke to me. I understood the mistakes and was able to sublimate.

The young mind saw two raised fingers in V formation and the thumb holding the two others in place. The length of the of the two extended fingers did not matter…what mattered to her was the intended message of peace. As an adult, I understand that to the world, peace often feels illusive. Personally, I often think that it has been captured – glued in place – only to discover that it has slipped away leaving glimpses of what it was in my life. Of course, the trails of what peace is like keeps me seeking to find it.

In a language that a ten-year-old could understand, I shared my thoughts. The dismay upon her face slowly turned to an easy smile, “Gwennie, I like that,” she said and turned to seek out the sanctity of the porch.

It was good learning for both of us.

Proverbs 28:13

PONDER THIS THOUGHT---"Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature.” Salvador Dali