Julia Likes Frogs and Other Things

I recently started teaching at a paint and pinot event space.  While I am a bit exhausted, I'm also finding it fascinating. Below are some of my thoughts.

First, the good

I spent three hours playing around with paint. Because I care a lot about color combinations, my brain starts looking for gaps—can I mix in fluorescent pink here? What if I use purple instead of white there?

Watching people try painting for the first time is charming. I'm a cheerleader for this kind of bravery and believe that creativity, kindness, and connection are why being human isn't such a bad thing.

I get paid to help people reproduce a painting with a very high chance of success. It's great to see people satisfied.

Now, the less good

The products give me a raging headache, so that's not good.

Also, I'm a mega introvert, so I'm done with high-intensity socializing after the first 30 minutes.

The pay is not super great.

You have to be on your feet, running around, and extremely responsive for three hours. That's a lot for a teacher—it can be like being a performer who is trying to carry everyone else's performance on my shoulders.

Ending with the good again

Wow, I'm really getting front-row seats to the destruction of perfectionism. That's pretty cool to watch. We can not  make the painting look exactly like the example, and must learn to own what we have produced. Yay, the risk of art is real!