This living the dream adventure began on my 50th birthday and has expanded and grown into something very special and dear to me. When I turned 50, I looked back on my life and thought, “If I live to be 75, I will have lived 2/3 of my life. More importantly, I only have a 1/3 left.” It’s interesting to be on the other side of the hill!
This made me ponder about what is important to me. What do I want my life to look like for that next 1/3? How do I want to spend my remaining time? What was my next adventure going to be? With these thoughts running through my head, my husband and I decided a big move was in our future. We sold, donated, packed up our life and our playful pups, and got in the truck. We were off to Florida! We landed in the sunny seaside town of Venice and were on our way to creating the life we wanted to live. We filled our days enjoying our family and friends and exploring the world around us. Life was good and we were living the dream!
Then 2020 came and the idyllic life we were building was threatened by the pandemic. I found myself agitated, anxious, and seriously depressed. I spent many hours reflecting about what was making me not myself and discovered that every outside influence was painfully negative. All the negativity was taking a toll on my heart and soul. I turned off the TV, put down the phone, told my friends and family I didn’t want to hear anything negative, and I picked up a paintbrush.
Painting has always been a joy for me and a way to chase away the doom and gloom. Bright, bold, fun colors cheer me up. My desire for positivity manifested first as this colorful fence outside our home. How can you not smile surrounded by rainbows?
We worked together to create this beautiful piece of art. Many hours went in to cutting and preparing the pickets, painting and detailing the designs, sweating and swearing as we dug each post hole and hung each slat. It was soul cleansing and cathartic to work with my hands and a paintbrush, creating something to make us smile. The time was well spent, and we were so happy with our cheerful corner of the neighborhood.
As our neighbors and strangers passed by, they would wave and smile, honk their horns, snap pictures, and bring others by to see our colorful fence. We met many different people and had great conversations over our fence. People loved it and the positive affirmation became infectious. I had more positive vibes and was inspired to create even more happiness through my painting. I started making signs to go on the wood fence. Bright and vibrant signs decorated with fun characters, witty sayings, and positive messages were created. I couldn’t stop! I just had to keep putting good out there! People began asking if we sold the signs. They wanted to enjoy and share the cheerful and positive energy in their lives and with their family and friends. So, here we are, creating and selling our signs, spreading happiness and positivity, and beginning this adventure for the next 1/3 of our lives. We are loving every minute of it and living the dream!
