child sledding helpful father nostalgic harvey print art

Stay Helpful — A Child’s Hero by G. Harvey

child sledding helpful father nostalgic harvey print art

It doesn’t take billions of dollars to be helpful and carry a child’s sled uphill. It does, however, take a level of caring and time. A Child’s Hero, limited edition print by G. Harvey.

You don’t have to be a wealthy philanthropist to be helpful. Indeed, it’s questionable how many of them actually are. Helpful, that is.

“They’re so rich,” people sigh. “And they must be smart, because they make so much money. Not only that, but they give it away!”

Most of us, ordinary people, feel small in the face of the millions and billions of dollars, funneled through tax-free foundations, that wealthy philanthropists pour into their chosen venues. But the world is made up of ordinary people, the kind who understand other ordinary people, and the small things we do are bigger than we think.

Anyone who doesn’t know how to change a flat tire on the side of a remote highway knows that a helpful hand, at just the right time, makes an impact that is lasting, memorable, and meaningful.

Indeed, the degree and scope of helpful things we can do is vast, and our creativity — unlike our wallets — cannot be exhausted as we find ways to do acts of kindness for other human beings. In some ways, it puts money into perspective when we realize how many of these acts of kindness, how many helpful actions, do not require billion dollar foundations.

The Value of Time

In the artwork, A Child’s Hero by G. Harvey, a little boy is spending the day outdoors in the cold winter air, sledding. Long before he is ready to quit, he tires, his small body unable to keep up with the physical exertion of dragging the heavy sled uphill.

To his rescue comes, who else? His father (parents: you are the everyday, totally unrecognized heroes). Bigger, stronger, and caring, the father does the heavy work, traipsing down the hill that his son glides over, ready to pick up the rope for another trek uphill. As they walk together, he and his children, they talk, and the day becomes much, much more than sledding.

What did it cost to be helpful like this? Time, and the willingness to care.

Stay Helpful — It Adds Richness to Life

Wenaha GalleryThe featured image to this article is A Child’s Hero by G. Harvey. You may purchase the print online at this link. We would be absolutely delighted to frame the work for you, working online and by phone — something we have been doing successfully for many years with out out-of-town clients. Email us at Wenaha.com to start the conversation.

More works by G. Harvey are at this link.

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love letter communicating laramie charles wysocki

Stay Communicating: Love Letter from Laramie by Charles Wysocki

love letter communicating laramie charles wysocki

Next to a face to face conversation, a good long letter is an excellent — and private — way to communicate. Love Letter from Laramie by Charles Wysocki

Communicating with one another is essential to healthy, strong relationships.

And while this seems so painfully obvious that it’s not worth mentioning, it is worth mentioning. Because, like eating food that truly nourishes, getting out for a walk, and turning off the TV, it’s one of those things we’d be better off doing, but don’t often enough actually do.

“Oh, I keep in touch with all my friends and family by texting and posting on social media,” some say. “I’m too busy to do anything else.”

But digital chatter, as many are increasingly learning, has little to do with strengthening relationships. Communicating via social media is like sitting, tete a tete, near the nosy neighbor’s fence, trying to have a private conversation. She butts in too much, scolding us for what we say, insisting that we acquiesce to what she believes. And she’s not beyond blocking our conversation completely, for our own good and that of society, of course. Such  (community) standards she has!

Charles Wysocki’s artwork, Love Letter from Laramie, reminds us that, when we can’t see the people we love, be with the people we love, interact face to face, close and personal, with the people in our lives who matter, we stay communicating by staying creative and interactive. A young woman in the wild, inhospitable west stops everything she’s doing to read the letter from the one she loves. These are words for her eyes alone, thoughts shared between two people that do not need to be, nor should be, filtered through an algorithm.

Meaningful communication requires not only time, effort, and persistence, but also — most importantly — privacy.

Stay Communicating — It’s How We Stay Strong

Wenaha GalleryThe featured image to this article is Love Letter from Laramie by Charles Wysocki. You may purchase the print online at this link. We would be absolutely delighted to frame the work for you, working online and by phone — something we have been doing successfully for many years with out out-of-town clients. Email us at Wenaha.com to start the conversation.

More works by Charles Wysocki are at this link.

If this post has encouraged you, please pass it on.

 

mother child gardening teaching family mike capser art print

Stay Teaching: Learning to Grow by Michael Capser

mother child gardening teaching family mike capser art print

Teachable moments are rarely planned. They happen as we spend time together. Learning to Grow, art print by Michael Capser.

While teaching is a profession, and a noble one,  it is not limited to a job.

Those of us who are fortunate remember a beloved math teacher who showed us the fool-proof way to figure out percentages; the English instructor who solved that whole “me and him” or “he and I” dilemma. But some of our finest and best teachers, and our first ones, are members of our family: our parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, grandparents. These are the people who have the strongest, most lasting and vested interest in the child.

Teaching is something that happens day by day, moment by moment, as adults interact with children, or even other adults.  We teach by example, by word, by listening, by caring. Some of the things we teach are concrete: how to plant a flower, how to knead dough and recognize when to stop, how to drive a car (every parent’s favorite). Other things we teach are social or ethical: saying please and thank you, recognizing how our tone affects our words, doing chores with the intent of doing them right.

And a more abstract teaching involves character: dignity, respect, honesty, compassion, kindness, understanding, goodness. These are not something we pick up from reading a book and answering a series of questions afterwards. These are elements we absorb as we live around people who are absorbing them themselves.

Quiet, Yet Dynamic, Teaching

Learning to Grow, Michael Capser’s artwork celebrating innocence and warmth, shows dynamic teaching in action. Side by side, mother and child transplant flowers. The woman leans easily into the task, the child squats down in the way young children so effortlessly do and “helps.” Part of the teaching is recognizing, which wise adults do, that little ones have little hands, short attention spans, and enormous quantities of imagination. The task itself is less important than the time together.

This type of teaching does not require an academic degree. But it most definitely requires a degree of caring.

Stay Teaching — You Have Much to Give

Wenaha GalleryThe featured image to this article is Learning to Grow by Michael Capser. You may purchase the print online at this link. We would be absolutely delighted to frame the work for you, working online and by phone — something we have been doing successfully for many years with out out-of-town clients. Email us at Wenaha.com to start the conversation.

More works by Michael Capser are available online at this link.

If this post has encouraged you, please pass it on.

 

tender moments couple close hugging snow john weiss romantic art

Stay Close — Tender Moments by John Weiss

tender moments couple close hugging snow john weiss romantic art

Some moments are so close, private, beautiful, and intimate, that they require physical touching. Tender Moments, limited edition giclee canvas, framed, by John Weiss.

Human beings need to touch and feel and be close. The interesting thing about the word, “feelings,” is that it is not limited to what goes on in our mind. As warm, gregarious, social beings, we crave also the actual touching of one another: being close physically strengthens the bonds of feeling close emotionally and spiritually.

This is a vitally important fact to never, ever forget.

There may be times when we cannot physically hold hands, lean into one another, stand close enough to speak — tete a tete  (intimately and privately) and sotto voce (too softly to be overheard by strangers) — but if such times do exist, they need to be brought quickly to a close. There is a strange illusion that communicating via phone text or social media post is an adequate replacement for physical closeness, but this is exactly that, a strange illusion.

The artwork, Tender Moments by John Weiss, is aptly named. The memorable moments, the ones which settle into our heart and create a space of warm comfort and joy, are frequently the quiet, “ordinary” ones. A couple stands close together in a snowstorm, side by side and leaning into one another, doing nothing more than enjoying each other’s presence. The family dog leans in as well. This is a moment of trust and peace, of intimacy and warmth. These elements are crucial to human relationships, and without them, we risk losing the very essence of our humanity.

Stay Close and Connected

Wenaha GalleryThe featured image to this article is Tender Moments by John Weiss. You may purchase the print online at this link. We would be absolutely delighted to frame the work for you, working online and by phone — something we have been doing successfully for many years with out out-of-town clients. Email us at Wenaha.com to start the conversation.

More works by John Weiss are at this link.

If this post has encouraged you, please pass it on.