A few months ago, I got the hankering to draw. Ya know, pencil, paper, eraser and object meet one’s ability to translate shape on to paper. Well, needless to say, it didn’t go so well. I knew it wouldn’t. I’m not a good drawer. I have a hard time reproducing the shape onto paper. I’ve tried this before and it never goes very well. My drawing of dogs look like fat caterpillars with fewer but oversized legs. A horse? You should see my drawing of a horse. Suffice to say, I have a journal of drawings that, in no way, resemble the object, but do provide comic relief.
I believe in drawing becasue I believe in seeing. Drawing is about seeing and paying attention. Life and leadership is as well. Because I need and want to get better at seeing, really seeing, I do the drawing thing. You should give it a try as well. And here’s where my story gets serendipitous.
Last Friday, while coaching a community leadership group, I met a woman in my city who teaches at, drum roll please, The Drawing Studio. The woman talked about the role of drawing in vision, observation and paying attention. At that point, I knew I would need to go the TDS and take a class–which I am, hopefully in late October.
I will keep you posted.
So, what do you do to enhance your ability to pay attention to life and leadership?