After my husband was recently placed in permanent care with Alzheimer’s, I have fallen and broken my right arm near the wrist. I’m right-handed. You might think this would stop me. I’m learning so much about left-handedness that I’m writing an article about just that, and what an advantage “lefties” have over “righties”. But, the biggest lesson from this accident is learning to be the care-receiver instead of the care-giver. Especially doing it with grace and integrity.

I too dismissed art school early on as being impractical, but I seem to have inherited the attitude that I can figure out a way around almost anything, and that’s where my patience lies. I’m getting around a painful right arm, and I’m thriving in my life after my 70th birthday. In fact life has never been happier for me. Never give up hope. Comments like yours and others give me great hope and pleasure. Thank you, Niki.

I very much look forward to reading your next post, and am grateful for the opportunity to communicate with you on this subject. It is the most challenging aspect of my life these days. I live alone and there is no one in my life to talk to about it.

P.S. I have been “chewing” on this issue for a long time, but very recently two things happened: First, I saw a documentary in which the Dalai Lama was interviewed. When asked why it is that people in the U.S. have so much more wealth than people in Tibet, and yet Americans seem so much more unhappy than Tibetans, he cited “greed”, “lack of self-discipline” and “too much self-medication (because of an unwillingness or inability to deal with pain) are the reasons. This gave ME plenty to contemplate, and as I was in that process the second “signpost” appeared. During some errand, I noticed shelves of discarded books and tapes on some rolling cards outside a bookstore, with a sign that said “FREE”. Beckoning me to take a look, I found a cassette tape of “The Road Less Traveled,” a lecture by Dr. Scott Peck, on the subject of “Self-Discipline.” This tape is a life-changer. If you are not yet familiar with it, I heartily suggest you get a copy, as I believe it will inform your next writing more than I could ever articulate here. Blessings on ya!

In the meantime, to answer one of your questions — no, I didn’t make any deals with myself. I was particularly stubborn at doing what I thought was required of me to the very end, ignoring my own desires. But even then, even then, at this late date, I am rising again in body, mind and spirit. I don’t think your missing out on an art degree need prevent you from nurturing your own spirit. I am working on a follow up article about this very question, hopefully coming out sometime in June. Thank you for giving me so many lead-ins to this whole topic from several points of view. Stay tuned, and email me from my website if you want to consult about the more specific problems that you mentioned. You aren’t alone, and you have no disease, believe me.

I’m delighted for you that you worked on your painting over time. It is absolutely gorgeous and evocative.

But what kinds of deals do you have to make with yourself to find time to stop the world around you long enough to get in the mode and pick up the brush?

Is it really, as they so often prescribe, just a matter of designating time on your calendar and pushing everyone out of the way so you can devote this time to your passion?