Watch Where You're Going

"Crap",  I say as I hastily brush out my wobbly inked line and impatiently wait for the paint to dry before trying again. I watch, envious of my painting partner who can swoosh out a perfect line without a glitch first time and every time. We're deep into another late-night work call painting a set for a local theater, running low on coffee, and I am burning out.
"How the hell do you do that?" I demand. "It's not natural."
"Easy," he says, "Watch where you're going, not where you've been."  

And that is how one ridiculously simple piece of painterly advice not only improved my craft, but became an integral part of my personal philosophy. Feeling stuck on a decision? Hung up on a grudge? Shame spiraling a thoughtless comment??

"Watch where you're going, not where you've been."

I'll be pounding on a tune trying to hammer it into memory and faltering over that one stubborn phrase when, "Watch where you're going, not where you've been." floats across the page. A deep breath and I try again.

I still pause to rummage around in the past - it's only natural, after all. All night angsting over regrets and mistakes and things left unsaid. Tenderly nursing old wounds and griefs, unsure if this hurting is healing or harming. Sometimes I look back and all I see are the scars, but scars are what hold the healthy bits together, so I bless them one by one for keeping me whole. After I get my fill, I turn my gaze ahead before taking another step.

"Watch where you're going, not where you've been."