Never Give Up

Yesterday I spent my evening painting at Cre8tive Ways and I'm happy to share that this current piece is 2/3 of the way complete.  And I'm really, really liking it.  I find that as I work my feelings towards the work-in-progress waxes and wanes...periods of adulation followed by abject disgust...and back again.  This circle tends to happen several times throughout the period of work which is, I think, probably why people become discouraged and give up most art forms.  And perhaps it is the dedication to slogging through the ebbs and flows of the work that gives an artist a small vestige of mystique.  The commitment to following through, no matter what the cost (usually to self esteem, I imagine).

I'm glad I'm getting somewhere as there are four other pieces in my studio that have caused me much pain and sorrow.  I feel rather bogged down by them.  It was especially nice to get into a different environment to work.  Fresh space, fresh eyes.  Looking forward to sunny days when I can work outside once again.  And every time I feel discouraged I am reminded of the words of Winston Churchill, "Never, never, never give up."  And because I live with a bit of a sports nut...I mean fan...who believes sports analogy applies to every situation in life, I often think of this speech...

"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. 

Unfortunately, so is losing.

"There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers.  It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to  win, and to win, and to win.

"Every time a football player goes to play  his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right  up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads.  That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more  importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body.  If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's  never going to come off the field second.

"Running a football team is no  different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political  party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat  the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.

"It  is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games  draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. To know  the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.

"And in truth, I've never known a  man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't  appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really  yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

"I  don't say these things because I believe in the 'brute' nature of man or that  men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human  decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest  fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has to
work his heart  out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."

-Vince Lombardi