81 The Good, Bad and Ugly of Contrast
Hey, this is Anne with your Coaching on the Go.
Contrast, it’s the spice of life, really, and it’s the juxtaposition between things.
So the differences between… often we talk about it in the art world, between color or texture, shapes.
It’s also the difference between characteristics or experiences.
So, I’m sitting out amongst a garden bed right now.
I’m seeing different giant squares of a patio, and then I’m seeing the smoothness of the greenery of the grass, and then a beautiful, undulating edge on a garden bed.
Instead of a straight line, it’s shifting.
I just want to say undulating because that’s what it’s describing for me, what I’m seeing.
And then in that bed there’s some giant hosta, one giant hosta that’s a focal point at the back, and then some tiny blue hostas around that contrasting.
There’s some more blue hostas way to the front, and then there’s a dappling of a mid-sized leafed hosta that has a yellow inside and a green outside, and then a tiny one that has a green inside and a yellow outside.
And because of the way they’re arranged in twos and threes, this bed is very inviting to the eye and it’s contrasting the lawn, and it’s contrasting the dark green of the evergreens behind it, the arborvitae behind it, and it’s striking.
The contrast in that bed grabs me, grabs my spirit, grabs my eye.
I interact with it on so many levels.
Years ago, I had been teaching for years, and it had been enjoyable and smooth.
It had been fascinating on many levels, and engaging.
And at some point, some contrasting…
There was a lot of contrast that I loved in that job, in that livelihood.
And at a certain point, some of the contrast wasn’t enjoyable and I found myself in a massive amount of uncomfortable juxtaposition, uncomfortable contrast, at which time…
I didn’t respond initially, and then it became more and more uncomfortable until I got to choose what I wanted to do there, and out of the discomfort, I chose to leave it.
There’s an example of contrast that, when I look back on it now, I’m so grateful for it, because without it I would have stayed in that position.
And since then, my life has just gotten more and more interesting.
I was fascinated by and loved what I experienced up to that point, and then the growing contrast that I didn’t care for created a situation where actually it shifted me towards what I desired.
And without that contrast, when I look back on it, I would have had a very difficult time shifting away from that career because I was dedicated to it.
So there’s some examples of beautiful contrast that I experienced in the beginning, and then contrast that’s a problem to solve.
And whenever we’re solving a problem, like in life on a daily basis, we get to see things that we don’t care for or feel things we don’t care for, and then out of that, we either get to stay in that discomfort, ignore those things, which is fine if you can put them out of your mind, or you can use those points of contrast to ask for more in life.
If somebody says, “Why do you always want more? When are you going to be done asking for more?”
Never.
Never.
Always ask for more from life.
There is always more available.
So your spirit gets to ask for more off of the contrast that you experience.
So today I just want you to familiarize yourself with the understanding of contrast and how you operate with it.
Do you like sameness?
Do you shoot for sameness?
What do you do with contrast?
What types of contrast do you enjoy and love, if any?
What contrast do you get motivated by to become resourceful and create change, or step into change?
How do you feel about change?
Is it a big fight or is it something you look forward to?
So today’s assignment is to engage with the idea of contrast, the idea of where you like it and where you don’t, and if you don’t like it, what do you do with it?
What’s your pattern of engagement with contrast?
And with that, I would love to see you post your ideas on the Facebook page.
I’m going to throw the link in this email that has this thread in it, so you can easily click and contribute something, contribute a thought or idea into the community page.
Some of you’ve been, I don’t know, timid about it, but when you’re doing the work and you flow with some ideas, it supports you in doing the work.
So jump in today and let me see what you have as an idea around contrast.
Sending you big love today for a contrasting, exhilarating day that you enjoy.