My Mom the Artist
By Theresa Shay
I recently spent a long weekend in Austin, Texas, with my mom, celebrating her 82nd birthday with no one else around. My dad was in Colorado helping his brother. Four days together as a pair was a first for us in five decades since she brought me into this world.
Mom and I found an easy rhythm. We played word games, Wordle and Spelling Bee daily, Scrabble as we could. Each day we ate one big meal out and satisfied ourselves with fruit, crackers, cheese, and ice cream in flavors our husbands don’t prefer. We went scouting for wall sconces when I noticed the city was full of stores I had been exploring online from Central Pennsylvania. We did our teaching – yoga in the living room for me, piano in the music room for her – and talked.
I’ve been gifted a new mother in the past two years. For her 80th birthday, we bought her art classes at a well-known Austin art school. Mom is a natural artist. Not only has she enjoyed her explorations of sketching, drawing, water coloring, and painting, she’s good. She’s really good. When I showed my husband her second acrylic painting ever, he thought it was a photo of the cloth.
My mother is as surprised as the rest of us at her ability. As a young girl, she turned to music and pursued it with singular focus. She has been a piano teacher for as long as I have been alive. When I asked how she had come this far without realizing she had talent as an artist, she shrugged. All her time and energy went toward music, it seemed. She never thought to draw.
Mom’s art carries a different vibration than her music. She recently sat down to paint a mountain scene and didn’t stand up for six hours. She had no idea so much time had passed. Art absorbs her. She comes to it without the weight of duty or sense of “should,” as with piano practice. As she brings an image to life, her worry fades. She tunes in. What I love is that when she steps back to take in her creation, she’s amazed.
Mom’s choice to have her second knee replaced, I believe, was encouraged by her desire to be able to walk into art class. She knew she needed her legs to stand and sit and move around to view her subject. She walks, for the first time in years, without her rollator at a pace that feels like going.
What I love is that she seems lighter, more engaged, and at ease.
Isn’t this what we are all here to discover?
For everyone there is something that will lift you up, like Mom’s art. This part of your life deserves attention. When you feel “drawn” and you respond to that nudge, you feed your physical health, your mental strength, and your spiritual energy.
What brings you joy or pleasure is called kama in Sanskrit, sometimes referred to as “play.” It is as foundational as all the pillars upon which you set your life, equally important as your duties.
In the journey to know yourself, discovering your kama is a responsibility. If you cannot yet name your delight, realize that your search is as valuable as the discovery. My mom discovered art at age 80, when art found her. You can’t know how or when the gift will arrive, but trust that it will..
In the words of the 13th century mystic Mechtild of Magdeburg, “I, God, am your playmate!” Let yourself be drawn, as Mechtild says, “like a needle to a magnet.” Your radiance will increase. Your gifts will unfold. Your energy will support you, and all the decades of your life, you will live.
Theresa Shay is the founding director of TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania, where she teaches weekly yoga and meditation online and trains others to teach TriYoga®. Each week, she shares wisdom cultivated from decades of TriYoga study and practice.
Learn more about her here. Theresa can be reached at Theresa@PennsylvaniaYoga.com. Find her on Instagram @theresa_of_triyoga for more inspiration and light.