The Magic Pencil

How many times have I heard people say to me that they cannot draw a straight line or a circle. I heard it again yesterday when I showed the man in the drawing of today his picture. How he wished he could draw. Another voice saying the same I cannot do anything at all with a pencil or paint. 

Now this may well be true, because it is for some people, but the number who cannot is very few and far between. 

I hated art at school. Probably because I did not really like the art teacher, but also because it did not seem to come easily to me. So I gave up on one of the things that has made my retirement full of meaning and joy.

There was a little boy called Mark who hated the art time at school. He just could not for the life of himself draw. he was continually getting into trouble because the more he tried the more he hated it.

Then one day he found a beautiful pencil. He just could not resist. He picked it up and drew a circle. He immediately knew it was not a good circle and was about to throw it away like all the others before. 

Just then he heard a voice saying to him, " You are not going to leave me like this? No mouth or nose or eyes. go on give me a mouth."

So he did and was told not a good one and rubbed it out and tried again the drawing telling him how to make it better. This went on for most of the day until he discovered he had a good looking face before him. He was pleased. 

The next day he took it to school and showed it to the art teacher who gave him much praise. That afternoon he and the magic pencil worked again and it was even better. 

He said to the magic pencil how pleased he was only to be told that the pencil was just like any other but had he noticed that rather than give up he had kept on practicing and trying. He was bound to get better. 

Next day he could not find the pencil, he had lost it. Hey presto he discovered that just about any pencil worked. The harder he tried the better it got. 

It it not always the case that there is innate skill, many great artist will tell you how much practice they put in. We just have to want to do it, as with anything in life. Things of worth and value do not always come easy.

Have a wonderful day.