Just be you

"Let someone love you just the way you are - as flawed as you might be, as unattractive as  you sometimes feel and as unaccomplished as you think you are.  To believe that you must hide all the parts of you that are broken, out of fear that someone else is incapable of loving what is less than perfect, is to believe that sunlight is incapable of entering a broken window and illuminating a dark room."
- Marc Chernoff

Sometimes we just don't realise or understand the difference we can make by just being ourselves and doing what we do.  And it's not just in relationships that this is the case. 

This was brought home to me recently when I discovered the story behind the sale of one of my paintings.

A series of synchronicities led me to meet this lovely lady.  I was scrolling though my Facebook page and an image happened to catch my eye.  I don't know why.  It had been posted on the Facebook Market place which is something I don't (or didn't until now) ever look at.  A photograph of what looked like a silky oak box.  I followed the link to find an old cash register.

I instantly fell in love with it and contacted the seller to learn more about it.  It turned out to be originally made in Brisbane, but had been used in an old shop in Childers - so it was local.  It's history drew me in even more.  I decided I had to have it and arranged to pick it up from town in a few days.

I purchased my beautiful antique cash box and turned to leave saying "Thankyou so much" as I did.  To my surprise, the lady said, "I actually need to thank you."  "Why?" I asked.  

She then told me that she had recently bought a painting of mine that seemed to speak to her from the Artisan shop where I had my work.  She told me that her husband had recently passed away and that she was finding it very difficult to move forward.  She had been unable to sort his things and change anything in her home - which she really wanted to do.  My painting had drawn her in and so she had purchased it.  She told me that it had been the catalyst for her to move on.  She had put up the painting and set the wheels in motion.

The silky oak cash register pictured below is now a reminder to keep going, that what I do does make a difference - Oh and it is a wonderful place to store my labels, safety pins and other bits and bobs in my office.

It was such a beautiful reminder that I asked her permission to share it.

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